Thailand rejects peace talks
Source: Agencies |
May 19, 2010, Wednesday
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THE Thai government dismissed proposed peace talks yesterday to end a nine-week crisis that has killed 67 people and threatened to tear the country apart, calling on thousands of protesters to disperse.
As the prospects for official talks unravelled, fighting erupted again in the Din Daeng district north of a Bangkok shopping area occupied by about 5,000 protesters whose leaders say they are willing to fight to the death to topple Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
"I'd rather stay here, be proud and die fighting than die in my village when I'm old," said Chamlat Ladlao, a protester from central Lopburi Province speaking from the barricaded protest site.
They said they were willing to enter cease-fire talks brokered by senators after chaotic street fighting that broke out last Thursday and has killed 39 people, mostly civilians, and wounded nearly 300.
But the government said it would only join the talks if the protests ended, a condition Red Shirt demonstrators have consistently rejected, leaving talks once again at a dead end with thousands of troops tightening a cordon around them.
Tourists and foreign investors are leaving in droves, squeezing the life out of one of the region's most dynamic cities and Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
That is taking a deepening toll on an economy projected to grow by as much as 5 percent this year, Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told Reuters.
"We have to admit that the long-running protest has been affecting the capability and opportunities for businesses, including those not in the protest area," he said.
The disruption has already spread to shippers and truckers, according to the Federation of Thai Industries, delaying exports of about 3,000 tons of sugar among other shipments, according to traders and surveyors.
In Din Daeng yesterday, troops fired warning shots as protesters burned kerosene-soaked tires and hurled petrol bombs. At least two protesters were shot.
By evening, a Siam City Bank branch was on fire and loud blasts could be heard.
A negotiated cease-fire cannot be ruled out. Three representatives from a group of 64 senators in the 150-member Upper House who have offered to mediate the talks met protest leaders well into the night.
Many of these leaders face terrorism charges that carry a maximum punishment of death.
As the prospects for official talks unravelled, fighting erupted again in the Din Daeng district north of a Bangkok shopping area occupied by about 5,000 protesters whose leaders say they are willing to fight to the death to topple Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
"I'd rather stay here, be proud and die fighting than die in my village when I'm old," said Chamlat Ladlao, a protester from central Lopburi Province speaking from the barricaded protest site.
They said they were willing to enter cease-fire talks brokered by senators after chaotic street fighting that broke out last Thursday and has killed 39 people, mostly civilians, and wounded nearly 300.
But the government said it would only join the talks if the protests ended, a condition Red Shirt demonstrators have consistently rejected, leaving talks once again at a dead end with thousands of troops tightening a cordon around them.
Tourists and foreign investors are leaving in droves, squeezing the life out of one of the region's most dynamic cities and Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
That is taking a deepening toll on an economy projected to grow by as much as 5 percent this year, Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told Reuters.
"We have to admit that the long-running protest has been affecting the capability and opportunities for businesses, including those not in the protest area," he said.
The disruption has already spread to shippers and truckers, according to the Federation of Thai Industries, delaying exports of about 3,000 tons of sugar among other shipments, according to traders and surveyors.
In Din Daeng yesterday, troops fired warning shots as protesters burned kerosene-soaked tires and hurled petrol bombs. At least two protesters were shot.
By evening, a Siam City Bank branch was on fire and loud blasts could be heard.
A negotiated cease-fire cannot be ruled out. Three representatives from a group of 64 senators in the 150-member Upper House who have offered to mediate the talks met protest leaders well into the night.
Many of these leaders face terrorism charges that carry a maximum punishment of death.
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