State of Emergency declared

[clive]

7.00am today a state of emergency was declared in Bangkok. The first time the new law has been used. The state of emergency is the responsibilty of the ISOC and guess who is the head of the ISOC? The one and only Mr. Samak. What a busy man, Prime minister, head of Defence and head of the ISOC, strange that one person should control all of these, sounds like he has the sole power to quell any threat against him from any source? I wonder if any other leader apart from Mugabbe has the same power?

[margaretcarnes]

Just seen it come up on Beeb News over here. The story is still unfolding but they've reported one killed.

[STEVE G]

What a busy man, Prime minister, head of Defence and head of the ISOC, strange that one person should control all of these, sounds like he has the sole power to quell any threat against him from any source?

He is certainly nominal head of these organisations, but whether or not he controls them is something we will find out in the next couple of days.

[clive]

Today will be interesting. One of the rules imposed under the state of emergency is no gatherings of more than 5 people! I wonder how they define "a gathering"

[margaretcarnes]

Yes it's starting to look pretty nasty. Some on Thaivisa website predict an escalation today, and warn that the MIBs guns are loaded. (Aren't they always?)

[buksida]

Guess what the second thing to be banned has been ... media coverage

Are we looking at a slew of closed websites, radio and TV stations again?

Thailand is going full speed in reverse at the moment.

[SuperTonic]

For non-techies, if you find that major news sources get blocked, give me a PM and I'll help you get access again. Techies will already know of the onion and its mystical powers.

[sandman67]

The state of emergency disallows five or more people to gather in the capital. It also prohibits public members to incite or provoke people to violence, and they cannot publicise information that instigate fear and affect national security and peace.

my emphasis....

maybe the Mods should lock all the political discussion threads now before HHAD gets shut down ? HHAD has some enemies out there remember.

[buksida]

Providing nobody breaks HHAD's terms and conditions which cover the site legally there should be no problem.

That is unless the govt want to stifle the media and political discussion like they did before.

[STEVE G]

I noticed that one Bangkok Post article online had a disclosure saying that it had been vetted and passed by the authorities as had all of the rest of the site, so I would think as long as any discussion stays around what is being reported in the mainstream media, you wouldn’t get any problems.

[crazy88]

Media sensationalism is one of my pet hates and I do not approve of misused censorship.Whilst I aknowledge the seriousness of the current situation and do not make light of the tragic death of one supporter and injuries of a few dozen others the media are hyping it up and making people nervous to travel here .In the west we have democratic and fair elections(tell that to Al Gore) .Thailand deals with things differently than the west in many aspects of life .What would happen to a group of 20,000 people with sticks outside the Houses of Parliament or the Whitehouse ? I very much doubt they would be sitting down eating noodles for very long .

I hope sincerely that the track record of these situations here repeats itself and there are far less injuries than songkran when everbody is in a good mood and armed only with water pistols .I also hope it is resolved for the good of the whole country .

Just an observation but they ban alcohol sales when there is an election but not now ? How many of the guys clashing with the police the other night do you think had been on the pi** all day ?

Crazy 88

[lomuamart]

I've just come back from 2 days in BKK. If you're around the Sukhumvit area, there's no problem at all.
That also spreads out towards Victory Monument and surrounds. I didn't see any difference in BKK from any other time I've been there.
Don't let the "localised trouble" put you off going there. It's BKK as usual.

[buksida]

Looks like its already started:

Thai government tries to shut down 400 websites
Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry sought court orders yesterday to shut down about 400 websites and advised internet service providers to block 1,200 sites it considers a danger to national security or disturbing social order.

ICT minister Mun Patanotai said the department had advised ISPs to immediately block these websites, which it claimed were detected between March and August this year, and had sought court actions against them under article 20 of Thailand's Computer Crime Act.

Full Story: The Guardian

[migrant]

Don't let the "localised trouble" put you off going there. It's BKK as usual.

My first wife is Korean. A few years back there was much rioting in Korea, lot's of student protests that looked really ugly on TV.

One riot occurred close to the university where her uncle taught. We called him to see if he was OK.

He said "Oh yes, the protests. They're on the other side of campus, we just go around it."

Don't want to belittle the protests, but sometimes the media does build things up.

[Super Joe]

How many of the guys clashing with the police the other night do you think had been on the pi** all day ?

Most of them judging by the official figures of injuries resulting from catapult projectiles:
2 policemen with bruised chests, 12 squirels and 26 nok dead

It is amazing that you can not drink during elections to help prevent trouble but you can drink during the trouble and during a state of emergency. Only here hey.

SJ