Cabinet extends security law for another week

BANGKOK, March 23 (TNA) – Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday extended
enforcement of the country’s security law for another seven days from March 23 through March 30 as the Red Shirt demonstration continues for its second week.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who heads national security, sought Cabinet endorsement of the Internal Security Act (ISA) extention. He gave as his reason another mass rally planned by the Red Shirts on Saturday, expected to draw a large crowd.

The Cabinet agreed to extend the ISA beyond its expiration date on Tuesday, for another week in Bangkok and the adjacent provinces of Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan, site of Suvarnabhumi Airport.  Its provisions authorise security personnel to set up checkpoints and limit the movement of the people.

The Cabinet on Tuesday met amid tight security with the deployment of thousand-strong security personnel at the Public Health Ministry in Nonthaburi as the venue is far from the protest site at Phan Fah Bridge on Rajadamnoen Avenue.

It was the first Cabinet meeting since the ISA enforcement was invoked in eight provinces, including Bangkok, from March 11-23 to allow officials to control the situation if violence occurred during the Red Shirt protest  which began March 13.

The decision followed a series of M79 grenade attacks in Bangkok since the
rally began.

Army personnel at government offices, army barracks, checkpoints and patrol units have been allowed to be armed since Monday to prevent ill-intentioned people from inciting violence.

However, security personnel working near the protest site will remained unarmed, equipped only with batons and shields.

The Red Shirt core leaders called for their supporters nationwide to come to the capital on Saturday for another mass rally after streams of UDD protesters in a caravan of red drew an estimated 65,000 participants and caused a further tangle Bangkok’s already notorious traffic. (TNA)