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State of emergency declared in Bangkok |
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| Central, Travel News No Comment |
A group of Thai girls dance to entertain the soldiers occupying the area around parliament in Bangkok, during the 2006 military coup. (AP)
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A group of Thai girls entertain soldiers occupying the area around parliament in Bangkok, during the 2006 military coup. (AP)
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A group of Thai dancing girls share a drink with soldiers occupying the area around parliament in Bangkok, during the 2006 military coup. (AP)
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Following weeks of anti-government protests by members of one of Thailand’s opposition parties the Government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej today, Tuesday September 2, 2008, announced a state of emergency in Bangkok.
The enactment of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations in Bangkok though exempts the enforcement paragraph 1 of Article 9 which prohibits people from leaving their houses, meaning people can still go to work.
The state of emergency allows authorities to evict people from any place, or prohibit them from entering a place, and also prohibits the gathering of groups of five people or more.
In response to the announcement the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced that its 436 schools will be closed for three days.
The administrative action was implemented after fighting between pro-government supporters and members of the Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) on Monday, and in the wake of reports that the PAD was planning to shut off water and electricity in Bangkok following their closure of Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi airports last week - resulting in hundreds of flights being cancelled and tens of thousands of tourists left stranded.
The declaration allows the Government to use the military to clear protesters from public places such as airports, government buildings, and Government House where the PAD have set up their headquarters.
For most tourists the Decree will have little effect.
Protests by the PAD have largely been localized and up until yesterday’s clash with pro-government supporters, peaceful.
In fact most tourists have continued to enjoy their holiday in Thailand unaware of any anti-government protests occurring.
As one long term resident of Pattaya said, “if you weren’t reading this, listening to English language radio or TV broadcasts, or and hadn’t try to fly in or out of Krabi, Phuket, or Hat Yai last week, you would probably never even know anything was happening.”
As can be seen from the photographs at the right, even military coups in Thailand are far from the violent uprisings that occur in other nations.
