Thai Protesters Plan to Oust Yingluck as Two Die in Bangkok

December 2, 2013 Leave a comment

Thai Protesters Plan to Oust Yingluck as Two Die in Bangkok

Anti-government protesters are set to step up their drive to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra today after violence overnight left at least two people dead and the central bank warned that the unrest is hurting the economy. Two people were killed and 45 were injured in clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters near Ramkhamhaeng University, Amnaj Anartngam, assistant police commander, said in a televised briefing today. Demonstrators in Bangkok plan today to seize the prime minister’s office, police headquarters and other government offices including the foreign and commerce ministries, according to anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who’s seeking to paralyze the administration.At stake is control of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy in a conflict between supporters and opponents of Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra. Suthep, a former deputy prime minister with the main opposition Democrat Party, told supporters on Nov. 29 that his movement was seeking victory against the government today. It’s necessary to break the law in order to “root out the Thaksin system,” according to Suthep.

“Political unrest has affected consumption, investment and tourism,” Prasarn Trairatvorakul, governor of the Bank of Thailand, told reporters in Prachinburi province yesterday, 140 kilometers (87 miles) east of Bangkok. “Political protests also have direct impact on sentiment.”

The situation in Bangkok is under control and the violence last night and early this morning will be investigated, according to Amnaj, who spoke in a briefing televised by state-owned NBT television.

Key Ministries

“Police and three other military forces are stationed at key ministries and places that the demonstrators plan to go,” Piya Utayo, a police spokesman, said in the briefing broadcast by NBT. “We are confident that we can protect those places.”

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters yesterday entered the compounds of the Department of Special Investigation and state-owned telecommunications offices, escalating the drive to overthrow Yingluck’s administration.

“Seizure of PM’s office, police headquarters and several ministries will paralyze this corrupted and illegitimate government,” said Suthep, whose comments were broadcast by Bluesky Television network. “Without the works of these key ministries, the government will stop most of its functions and finally collapse.”

Election Victories

Thaksin, a former prime minister, has lived overseas since a court in 2008 sentenced him to two years in prison for helping his wife buy land from the government. Parties linked to Thaksin have won the past five elections on support from the country’s rural north and northeastern provinces. The protests are supported by the Democrat Party.

A demonstration by pro-government supporters at the Rajamangala National Stadium was called off at 9 a.m. after the violence, Anusorn Eimsa-Ard, deputy spokesman of Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party, said by phone. Gunfire in area that began at about 8 p.m. yesterday, continued into this morning, said Anusorn, a leader of the so-called red shirts, who support Thaksin.

Yingluck, whose party controls more than 300 seats in the 500-member lower house of parliament, said yesterday that violence would not be used to quell the demonstrators and reiterated an offer of talks with her opponents. Suthep has rejected multiple offers of negotiations from the prime minister for over the past month.

“We choose to be condemned as a weak government, not using force and being invaded by protesters,” Yingluck told reporters yesterday in remarks carried on television. “It is better than setting a deadline to regain our ground.”

Slower Growth

Thailand’s economy grew 2.7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the first three months of 2012, official data show. The central bank lowered its 2013 growth estimate to about 3 percent from 3.7 percent on Nov. 27, the same day that it unexpectedly lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point.

The baht weakened to 32.228 against the dollar on Nov. 28, the lowest level since Sept. 9 as the protests spread. Thailand’s SET Index of stocks has declined about 17 percent since May 21.

To contact the reporters on this story: Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net; Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net

Filed under Macro Trends

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