Asia

Home page

Asia

Thai army calls for extended curfew

24 May 2010 19:09 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Thai security officials have recommended that a curfew in Bangkok and 23 other provinces be extended for another week, APA reports quoting â€œABC Newsâ€.
An army spokesman said there were still some movements to incite unrest and an extension of the curfew would facilitate the work of authorities.
The curfew, which now runs from 11pm until 4am, would be shortened and begin at midnight (local time) under the recommendation.
All but one of the eight top Red Shirt leaders are now in custody. But there are fears that the government decision to ask the criminal court to charge exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with treason over the Red Shirt protests might lead to new unrest.
The Red Shirts, who are campaigning for fresh elections to replace a government they condemn as illegitimate, disbanded last Wednesday in the face of a military offensive that forced their leaders to surrender.
Enraged militants within the movement went on a rampage of looting and arson that left 36 major buildings ablaze including the stock exchange and Thailand’s biggest mall, Central World, which now stands in ruins.
Downtown Bangkok was scrubbed clean over the weekend in a frenzied operation involving thousands of city workers wielding brooms and power hoses, as well as enthusiastic volunteers including foreigners.
But everywhere there were reminders of the chaos and large crowds gathered outside Central World, solemnly snapping photos of the wreckage.
Opposition politicians allied with the Red Shirts movement filed a motion to censure prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and five other ministers over the handling of the crisis.
No date has been set for the debate, but the motion is largely symbolic as Mr Abhisit’s coalition has a majority in the parliament.
Thailand’s criminal court will rule Tuesday on whether to issue a warrant to arrest Mr Thaksin on terrorism charges in connection with the deadly unrest as the government seeks to bolster attempts to extradite him.