Thailand declares emergency law to end protest crisis others available (3rd Lead)

Sep 2, 2008, 2:55 GMT

    Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Bangkok after a clash between pro- government and anti-government groups claimed one victim and left a score injured.

'With the situation like this I had to find a way out,' Samak told a press conference. 'I have the duty to solve the country's problems, and every concerned party has the duty to help.'

   Emergency law went into effect at 7 am  after army troops were called in to restore order around Government House, the seat of government, which has been occupied by anti-government protestors from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) since August 26.

   Pro-government groups moved on the compound early Tuesday, clashing with PAD forward guards. At least one PAD member was killed in the clash and more than 20 others injured.

   The emergency law decree, passed last year when Thailand was under an interim military-appointed government, prohibits the gathering of more than five people, allowing authorities to arrest those who disobey.

Samak said he had set up a joint military-police committee to find a way to get the PAD out of Government House and to investigate the clash that occurred early Tuesday morning, prompting the use of emergency law.

    The Thai army early Tuesday deployed hundreds of troops to Government House, after a clash at about 2 a.m. (1900 GMT Monday) between pro-government and PAD followers.

Shortly after midnight a pro-government mob marched on Government House from Sanam Luang (the Royal Grounds) and clashed with front- line guards of the PAD on the outskirts of the government compound, killing at least one PAD member, and injuring more than 20 others.

   Government House was seized by thousands of followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a loose alliance of conservative groups demanding the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Samak, on August 26 and has been occupied since.

   Samak, a veteran right-wing politician who has been linked to other violent crackdowns on protestors in Thailand's recent history of coups and pro-democracy struggles, has faced a dilemma evicting the squatters from Government House because of the reluctance of the police and military to use force against them.

    The PAD comprises mainly middle class Thais, devoted to the monarchy and fed up with corrupt elected politicians. The movement's critics have warned that if it succeeds in toppling Samak it will prove a step backwards for election-based democracy in Thailand and a victory for the conservative forces that favour a lead role for the bureaucracy and appointed officials.

   Sonthi Limthongkul, one of five leaders of the PAD, said Monday that government members of parliament had bused in thousands of members of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, a pro- government grouping, from the provinces to create a 'confrontation.'

   He claimed the 'thugs' were being paid 200 baht (5.80 dollars) a day.

   Sonthi, a media entrepreneur, has been at the heart of the PAD movement since it began in early 2006 as a spearhead to topple the previous administration of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

   Thaksin was ousted by a military coup on September 19, 2006, and now the PAD wants to force his protégé, or 'nominee,' current premier Samak, to resign.

   Samak leads the People Power Party which won the December 23, 2007, general election on an openly pro-Thaksin platform.

   The PAD has been staging anti-government demonstrations on Rajdamnoen Avenue in the old section of Bangkok since May 25, when the Samak government indicated it wanted to amend the 2007 constitution in such a way that would favour a Thaksin comeback.

   Efforts by police to forcibly oust the demonstrators from Government House on Friday failed.

   Friday's show of force drew immediate criticism from a broad swathe of Thai society.

The labour union at the state-run State Railways of Thailand (SRT) has been on partial strike since Friday and on Monday, the labour unions of 43 state enterprise labour unions threatened to stop work Wednesday to pressure Samak to resign.

   Union leaders told a press conference that more than 200,000 members of the 43 state enterprise labour unions nationwide had jointly agreed to stop work which involves public utilities such as tap water, electricity supplies and transportation systems starting from 9 a.m. Wednesday to 'end the political problems' created by the government of Mr Samak.'

'If they succeed what is the future of Thai politics,' said Samak, raising the question that has dogged the PAD movement.