Protesters clash with Bangkok riot police
- 11 years ago
(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
PLEASE NOTE THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
Thai riot police fired tear gas to stop anti-government protesters from entering a rally venue in Bangkok on Saturday (November 24).
The rally was expected to start later on Saturday, but police set up blockades around the venue.
Several cans of tear gas were fired by the police before 9am local time (0200GMT) to stop a group of protesters from going through Makawan bridge outside the United Nations building.
At least 50,000 protesters are expected to gather near the parliament, Police Chief Adul Saengsingkaew said.
The government's decision to invoke the Internal Security Act (ISA) in the area of the protest site will allow the police to ban gatherings at sensitive government locations and gives them more power to arrest people on public order grounds.
The rally could herald another period of unrest in Thailand which has seen frequent bloody street protests in recent years, including a rally lasting more than two months by supporters of the present government in 2010, which was put down by the army.
The group behind the protest, Pitak Siam, is led by retired general Boonlert Kaewprasit. The group held a first rally on October 28, attracting 7,000 supporters according to the police, but 20,000 according to the organisers.
It says Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra heads a puppet government controlled by her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, from self-imposed exile in Dubai. He was ousted by the military in 2006 and fled the country in 2008 shortly before being found guilty of abuse of power.
PLEASE NOTE THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
Thai riot police fired tear gas to stop anti-government protesters from entering a rally venue in Bangkok on Saturday (November 24).
The rally was expected to start later on Saturday, but police set up blockades around the venue.
Several cans of tear gas were fired by the police before 9am local time (0200GMT) to stop a group of protesters from going through Makawan bridge outside the United Nations building.
At least 50,000 protesters are expected to gather near the parliament, Police Chief Adul Saengsingkaew said.
The government's decision to invoke the Internal Security Act (ISA) in the area of the protest site will allow the police to ban gatherings at sensitive government locations and gives them more power to arrest people on public order grounds.
The rally could herald another period of unrest in Thailand which has seen frequent bloody street protests in recent years, including a rally lasting more than two months by supporters of the present government in 2010, which was put down by the army.
The group behind the protest, Pitak Siam, is led by retired general Boonlert Kaewprasit. The group held a first rally on October 28, attracting 7,000 supporters according to the police, but 20,000 according to the organisers.
It says Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra heads a puppet government controlled by her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, from self-imposed exile in Dubai. He was ousted by the military in 2006 and fled the country in 2008 shortly before being found guilty of abuse of power.