Bangkok under state of emergency

Opinion

Barry Artiste,

I will update as the news comes in. Pro and anti government protestors are clashing with government forces with the Prime Minister declaring a state of emergency.

Thai PM Samak Sundaravej on Bangkok's state of emergency

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7593128.stm

Clashes on the streets of Bangkok

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7593110.stm  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7592942.stm

Bangkok under state of emergency Clashes on the streets of Bangkok Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has declared a state of emergency in the capital Bangkok, after clashes left at least one person dead.

Dozens more were hurt in the worst violence seen in Bangkok for 16 years. Mr Samak said he had "no choice" but to impose the measure in order to end the week-old revolt by supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

But the army commander has promised that his men will not use force to disperse the protesters.

Separately, in a fresh blow to the government, the Thai election commission recommended that Mr Samak's People Power Party be disbanded over claims of vote-buying in elections last December.

The recommendation will not lead to immediate action against the party, as it must now be considered by the public prosecutor's office, but correspondents say it piles further pressure on Mr Samak's government.

If the prosecutor submits the case to the Constitutional Court and the ruling is upheld, Mr Samak and other top party leaders would be banned from politics for five years. PAD supporters say the government is a front for Thaksin Shinawatra - the former prime minister, now in exile, whom the PAD was instrumental in removing in a coup in 2006.

The PAD has a passionate following in various parts of the country, especially Bangkok, and some powerful backers among the elite.

But it has little support in most of rural Thailand, which voted strongly for Prime Minister Samak, and Mr Thaksin before him.

KEY EVENTS

Sept 2006: Bloodless coup by military sees PM Thaksin Shinawatra removed from office April 2007: New military-drafted constitution approved

Dec 2007: General election won by People Power Party (PPP), seen as reincarnation of Thaksin's now banned Thai Rak Thai party Jan 2008: Samak Sundaravej chosen as PM

Feb 2008: Thaksin returns from exile May 2008: PAD protests against Samak begin

July 2008: Thaksin goes on trial for corruption; his wife is found guilty of fraud. By mid-August the family has fled to the UK

August 2008: PAD protests escalate