Thai Leader Declares State of Emergency in Bangkok

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By JAMES HOOKWAY and WILAWAN WATCHARASAKWET

BANGKOK -- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the capital and surrounding areas Sunday as his government tried to restore order after antigovernment protesters stormed the venue of a major regional summit the day before.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok.
Bands of antigovernment protesters roamed areas of Bangkok as the emergency decree was announced, with some smashing a car carrying Mr. Abhisit, and others beating up motorists who hurled insults at them. The protesters also commandeered public buses to try to block several major roads.

The decree prohibits gatherings of more than five people and outlaws media reporting which the Thai authorities consider a threat to public order. It also marks a potentially drastic escalation in the government's ongoing conflict with demonstrators opposed to the coup which unseated former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra three years ago.

Political analysts said there is no guarantee the decree will defuse the worsening tensions in the country. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said a crackdown on the demonstrators could spur further protests. "They could call for an uprising in northern Thailand, where they are popular. That would be unprecedented and terrifying," he said.

On Sunday, Thai television stations reported that a handful of protesters attacked a motorcade at the Interior Ministry in the belief that Mr. Abhisit was inside one of the cars. Officials said Mr. Abhisit had already left by the time the protesters arrived.

Earlier Sunday, police detained one of the leaders of Saturday's protests in Pattaya, a seaside resort where Asian leaders had gathered for a regional summit on how to respond to the global economic crisis. Several hundred protesters invaded the meeting venue, forcing Thai authorities to scrap the talks and ferry some of the assembled leaders to safety by helicopter in what is shaping up to be a major embarrassment for Mr. Abhisit and his government.

The detained leader, pop singer Arisman Pongreungrong was arrested at his house in Bangkok and can be held for 24 hours without charge.

Another protest leader, Jakrapob Penkair, urged sympathizers to go to the main government complex in Bangkok where demonstrators have been camped out for a week in a bid to unseat Mr. Abhisit's government. Last Wednesday, over 100,000 protesters joined a massive antigovernment protest.

"The next three to four days will be crucial for the government to prove itself in restoring peace and order in the country," Mr. Abhisit, a 44-year-old Oxford-educated economist, said in a televised address Sunday.

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Supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra battle with pro-government supporters at the ASEAN Summit in Pattaya, Thailand on April 11, 2009.
The state of emergency appeared designed to prevent further clashes between red-clad antigovernment protesters and royalist demonstrators, who threw rocks and powerful firecrackers at each other in the lead-up to Saturday's summit invasion.

The red shirts, as the antigovernment protesters are known, are seeking fresh elections and the resignation of Mr. Abhisit. They are also calling for the resignations of several advisers to King Bhumibol Adulyadej whom they believe are responsible for planning a military coup which unseated Mr. Thaksin in 2006. The advisers have denied having anything to do with the coup, but the act of accusing anybody associated with the monarchy of interfering in politics is an extremely provocative statement in a country where the royal family is widely revered.

Mr. Thaksin, meanwhile, is in self-exile, moving from country to country in an attempt to avoid extradition to a Thai prison after he was convicted of corruption last year. He denies the accusation.

Mr. Abhisit himself came to power last December after a series of protests last year in which demonstrators opposed to former, pro-Thaksin government laid siege to Bangkok's airports. The protesters, who said they were trying to defend the monarchy from Mr. Thaksin's continuing populist influence in Thailand, only dispersed after Thailand's Constitutional Court forced the dissolution of the former government by saying it was guilty of electoral fraud.