Ok. Its time for Thailand *** BANGKOK — At least 35 people were hurt Saturday night when an antigovernment rally in eastern Thailand was attacked by gunmen, the police said. Assailants in a pickup truck attacked the rally held by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee in the province of Trat, about 180 miles east of Bangkok, said a police official, Lt. Thanabhum Newanit. The attackers shot into the crowd and two explosive devices went off, he said. It was not clear whether members of the protest group, which uses armed guards, fought back. Hospitals said several of the injured were in intensive care or undergoing surgery. On Friday night, six people were hurt when unknown attackers threw a grenade into a crowd of protesters in the capital. ...... Ms. Yingluck, meanwhile, is pushing back against legal challenges to her government. On Thursday, she defended a program to support rice prices that so far has incurred paper losses of up to $8 billion. In a statement on her Facebook page, she said there was no corruption associated with the program, and that it was designed to help raise the standard of living in rural areas. Thailands National Anti-Corruption Commission has said it would charge Ms. Yingluck for mismanagement in connection with the program. If Ms. Yingluck is found guilty she will be suspended from duty and face an impeachment trial in Thailands partially-elected Senate. Concerns are growing over how the mass-membership Red Shirts movement will react if Ms. Yingluck is removed from power, especially as antigovernment protesters managed to block the completion of national elections on Feb. 2. The group was formed in the aftermath of the 2006 coup, and broadly supports the Shinawatra clan and their populist policies. After a pro-Thaksin government was removed from power for alleged election violations, tens of thousands of Red Shirt members converged in Bangkok in 2010 to demand fresh elections, occupying much of the city center for nearly two months. More than 90 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces, the vast majority of them Red Shirt members. Key leaders of the group such as Nattawut Saikeua have warned that the Red Shirts could again march on Bangkok if Ms. Yingluck is overthrown, and violent confrontations between Red Shirt members and antigovernment demonstrators have already broken out in recent weeks in and around Bangkok. ***
Posted on: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 13:50:07 +0000
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