Red Shirt leader: Protesters can leave if curfew is imposed

BANGKOK, May 16 (TNA) – Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikua announced that he has left the decision to the protesters themselves if they want to stay on at the Ratchaprasong protest site or return home when the curfew is imposed.

Red Shirt guards will not bar them from leaving the protest site, Mr Nattawut said, advising the protesters to bring their children home or move to Pathumwanaram temple, a safe area next to the protest site. He said he did not want to be charged that innocent people are human shields for the protest leaders.

The Red Shirt leaders will announce their next movement at the evening news conference.

Meanwhile, another pivotal leader, Jatuporn Prompan, told journalists at the rally site that he now wished the international community to intervene and for sacred objects to protect the protesters.

The UDD demands remain unchanged–Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva must dissolve the House of Representatives, resign from his post and his administration must not be a caretaker government, and that Mr Abhisit himself must be put on trial like the key UDD leaders whose warrants for arrest have been issued, said Mr Jatuporn.

He said renewed deadly violence in Thailand worries members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and they have prepared to ask Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to urgently hold a meeting to discuss the issue.

Vietnam is now chairman of the 10-member ASEAN organisation. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are ASEAN members.

Regarding reports that the Thai government may impose a curfew in Bangkok, Mr Jatuporn said some Red Shirt key leaders have now gathering supporters to hold demonstrations outside Ratchaprasong areas as they are unable to enter the inner part of the capital.

He said the curfew, if imposed, cannot prevent people from coming out of their houses and fighting for their causes. (TNA)