Thai Police Use Tear Gas on Protesters

by Jon Azpiri | October 6, 2008 at 05:02 pm

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Thai police launched tear gas at a group of political protesters outside the parliament building in Bangkok. According to reports by local television stations, police tried to disperse supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who had set up a barricade around the parliament building.

Prime Minister and Defence Minister Somchai Wongsawat ordered police to clear the way into parliament for the scheduled policy debate on Tuesday morning. He had called an urgent cabinet meeting late Monday night after PAD human shields ringed parliament to prevent the meeting.

Several people were carried from the protest by fellow demonstrators after the short tear-gas attack, but it was not clear if there were any casualties when police moved in to clear the human blockade of parliament.

The barricade is the latest in a string of protests by PAD, who are demanding that the elected government step down because of its ties to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Protests had been taking place around the offices of Prime Minister Wongsawat since August, but recently moved to the parliament in an effort to prevent a proposed amendment to the Constitution.

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