Travel Forum / Destinations / Asia / August 2008

Police should have arrested all of them much earlier! These idiots are being
exploited by evil people behind PAD, most like the royal family.

Thai police use tear gas to disperse protesters

By SUTIN WANNABOVORN – 4 hours ago

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thai police used tear gas Friday to disperse
a crowd of at least 2,000 anti-government protesters besieging city
police headquarters.

The crowd threw rocks at police and vandalized at least one police car
parked nearby, TPBS television station reported.

Protest leaders said they had come to police headquarters demanding
the surrender of officers who allegedly beat demonstrators earlier in
the day.

Thousands of protesters have occupied Prime Minister Samak
Sundaravej's office compound for nearly four days.

The People's Alliance for Democracy wants to force Samak's government
to step down, accusing it of corruption and of serving as a proxy for
former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006
coup and faces several corruption cases.

Thaksin has sought refuge in Britain, claiming he would not get a fair
trial in Thailand.

After Thaksin was deposed, his party was dissolved and he was banned
from public office until 2012. But Samak led Thaksin's political
allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of
power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback. He
remains popular with the country's rural majority.