<p>A group of academics called Santi Prachatham have urged the government to dissolve the House in 3 months to break the impasse and avoid violence. 3 months are sufficient and charter amendments must be done after elections, they said. </p>
<p>New Politics Party Secretary-General and PAD spokesperson Suriyasai Katasila says the red shirts’ protests at Rajprasong cause damage to the economy and society, and cannot be compared with the PAD protests which were justified. Calling on Abhisit to take legal action, he is concerned that Bangkokians will take things into their own hands. </p>
By Southeast Asian Press Alliance |
<p>On 2 April 2010, a car belonging to an employee of Thailand's local daily "Matichon" burned down after a makeshift bomb was lobbed at it by two unidentified attackers riding on a motorcycle, raising<br />
alarm among the media community that the current political conflict-associated violence is starting to spill over to the media outlets and journalists.</p>
<p>Police have arrested the webmaster of a pro-red shirt website for committing lèse majesté, and will make more arrests.</p>
<p>The Energy Ministry has warned that if nuclear power is not an option, the public will face higher electricity rates, due to the high price of liquefied natural gas.</p>
<p>According to Matichon online, Pol Maj Gen Vichai Sangprapai, Commander of the 1st Metropolitan Police, said on 31 March that the police had been asked to bring Sondhi Limthongkul to the prosecutor by 2 April.</p>
<p>The Research Centre of Bangkok University has found that 45.6% of Bangkokians have no hope of an improved political situation after the two rounds of talks between the government and the red-shirt leaders. They give Abhisit 6.09 out of 10 points for his performance as Prime Minister in handling the protests.</p>
<p>Bang Khen police arrested a sergeant-major and Bangkok municipal officials for destroying UDD campaign signs.</p>
<p>According to an <a href="http://www.manager.co.th/Politics/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000042080">ASTV-Manager report</a> on 25 March, Rosana Tositrakul, a Bangkok Senator, said that despite their claims of non-violence, the red shirts’ practices have been threatening. She branded the red shirts’ activities with her own term, ‘uncivil intimidation’ </p>
<p>A group called the Network of Bangkok Community Citizens has come out claiming to speak for 1,800 communities in Bangkok to urge the red shirts not to violate the rights of Bangkokians. Its spokesperson, however, has been exposed as a supporter of the People’s Alliance for Democracy protests in 2008 on behalf of the Isaan people.</p>
<p class="rteleft">Phreuk Thaothawin, a political scientist from the Faculty of Arts of Ubon Ratchathani University, is one of the few academics who have not been shy to say that they are sympathetic to the red shirts’ cause. On 21 March, he shared his views on the red shirts in a public forum in Bangkok. </p>
By Pravit Rojanaphruk |
<p>As the political standoff continues, Pravit Rojanaphruk talks to "Luke Chao Na Thai" or "Thai Peasant's Son", an influential red-shirt intellectual whose articles under the pen name is widely followed by many middle-class red shirts. "Luke Chao Na Thai" was educated in Thailand and England. He is a bureaucrat in his mid forties who kept his real identity secret due to his bureaucratic status. His father is a humble peasant from a province in the lower Northern region of Thailand.</p>