Thai PM says protesters’ demands unacceptable

TAKE THAT! An antigovernment protester throws back a tear gas canister in Bangkok after demonstrators tried to attack the office complex of the Thai prime minister. AP

BANGKOK—Thailand’s prime minister on Monday said she was willing to do anything to end violent protests against her government and restore peace, but stressed she could not accept the opposition’s “unconstitutional” demand to hand power to an unelected council.

Yingluck Shinawatra’s comments, broadcast in a 12-minute televised news conference, were the clearest indication yet that negotiations are unlikely to solve the country’s increasingly violent political standoff.

As Yingluck spoke from the heavily fortified national police headquarters, stone-throwing protesters battled through clouds of police tear gas in a renewed attempt to seize her office at Government House and other key government buildings.

As the day progressed, the protesters got hold of a garbage truck and a police truck, using them to break through parts of concrete barricades.

Amid the mounting violence, the United Nations closed its main office in Bangkok, dozens of schools shut down and civil servants skipped work.

The protests aimed at toppling Yingluck’s government have renewed fears of prolonged instability in one of Southeast Asia’s biggest economies and come just ahead of the peak holiday tourist season.

“If there’s anything I can do to bring peace back to the Thai people I am happy to do it,” Yingluck said, striking a conciliatory but firm tone. “The government is more than willing to have talks, but I myself cannot see a way out of this problem that is within the law and in the constitution.”

The protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, met with Yingluck on Sunday night but nothing came out of their meeting. Suthep said he wouldn’t be satisfied with Yingluck’s resignation or new elections. Instead, he insisted on an unelected “people’s council” to pick a new prime minister.

“I don’t know how we can proceed” with Suthep’s demand, Yingluck said.  “We don’t know how to make it happen. Right now we don’t see any way to resolve the problem under the constitution,” she said in her brief news conference.

“If there is any way I can restore peace I am willing to do it. The government does not have to hold on to power; we only want peace,” she added.

Protesters regroup

After a weekend of chaos in pockets of Bangkok, protesters regrouped outside the heavily barricaded prime minister’s office compound on Monday and repeatedly clashed with the police who fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets.

Emboldened by their leader’s vow to topple Yingluck by Wednesday, the protesters threw rocks at police and tore away sections of barbed wire and concrete barriers. At least four people were killed and 103 injured in skirmishes over the weekend.

The protesters, who are mostly middle-class Bangkok supporters of the opposition Democrat Party, want Yingluck to step down, claiming she is a proxy for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was deposed in a 2006 military coup but remains central to Thailand’s political crisis, and is a focal point for the protester’s hatred.

The protesters, who call themselves the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, say their goal is to uproot the political machine of Thaksin, who is accused of widespread corruption and abuse of power.

Key institutions

Monday’s violence took place around key institutions—Government House, Parliament and the Metropolitan Police Headquarters in the historic quarter of the capital. The area has some of Bangkok’s main tourist attractions such as the Grand Palace, Wat Pho temple, the Bangkok zoo and the backpacker area of Khao San Road. Most of Bangkok, a city of 10 million, has been unaffected, however.

The protesters’ numbers have dwindled from a peak of 100,000-plus a week ago but small groups of a few hundred youths have remained at the front line, fighting running battles with the police.

They threw bottles, rocks and smoke bombs on Monday over concrete and razor-wire barricades that they tried to rip down. They were repeatedly repelled by volleys of tear gas, bursts of water cannon and rubber bullets.

Many of the protesters wore raincoats and plastic bags over their heads to protect themselves from the sting of tear gas.

In an e-mailed statement to its staff, the UN security department said “there could be violence [Monday] on a large scale … staff should avoid government offices” and other protest locations. It closed its main office near Government House, which houses several UN agencies.

The French Embassy issued one of the strongest warnings of dozens of foreign governments, urging citizens to “stay inside” to avoid the conflict on Bangkok’s streets.

The French School, located in a northeastern Bangkok neighborhood where gunshots rang out over the weekend during clashes between Yingluck’s supporters and opponents, was one of at least 60 schools that closed in Bangkok on Monday.

Military backing

Suthep’s demand for an unelected council has been criticized by many as undemocratic that is unlikely to be accepted by a government that was elected with an overwhelming majority.

His sustained campaign, however, has led to suggestions that he may have the backing of the military, which has long had a powerful influence over Thai politics. The military has often stepped in during times of crisis, carrying out 18 successful or attempted coups since the 1930s.

Top military officials were present when Suthep met with Yingluck late Sunday even though he has an arrest warrant against him. The military has said it is neutral in the conflict, even as the Army commander, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, has urged the police not to use force.

Political instability has plagued Thailand for the past seven years since the military ousted Thaksin, who remains hugely popular among rural voters. In 2008, anti-Thaksin protesters occupied Bangkok’s two airports for a week after taking over the prime minister’s office for three months, and in 2010 pro-Thaksin protesters occupied downtown Bangkok for weeks in a standoff that ended with parts of the city in flames and more than 90 dead.

Any further deterioration is likely to scare away investors as well as tourists who come to Thailand by the millions and contribute 10 percent to the $602-billion economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest after Indonesia. It is also likely to undermine Thailand’s democracy, which had built up in fits and starts interrupted by coups.