Protesters return to bangkok streets
They stormed the army headquarters in the city center and occupied the lawn in front of the building. Opposition leader abhisit vejjajiva led a march to the u.S. Embassy.
Outside the headquarters of the ruling pheu thai party, other protesters again called on the government to resign. Suthep thaungsuban, the demonstrators’ spokesman, promised supporters victory within two days.
About 1,000 protesters climbed the fence at army headquarters by the hundreds and spread out on the land with flags and whistles. The mood remained relaxed. Dozens of soldiers stood guard everywhere, but they willingly took pictures with the uninvited guests. The demonstrators demanded
the army to side with the protesters in the power struggle against the government. After two hours they left.
The demonstrators denounce corruption and enrichment. They accuse the government of prime minister yingluck shinawatra of cementing its power by securing the votes of three broad strata of the poor with costly tax giveaways while ruining the state’s finances. They see behind it mainly yingluck’s brother thaksin, who himself was overthrown as prime minister in 2006. He fled abroad before being sentenced to two years in prison for corruption.
3,000 opponents of the government paralyzed traffic in front of party headquarters. They chanted "get lost, yingluck" and started a deafening concert with their whistles. The opposition leader took off his suit and tie and marched in a t-shirt at the head of a march of about 1000 people to the u.S. Embassy. There, the demonstrators handed over a letter in which they deny the government any legitimacy. The u.S. Embassy is located in the middle of the city’s shopping and hotel district. Embassies have called on their nationals to avoid crowds of people.
Word leader suthep rejected all negotiations with the government on thursday evening. He does not deviate from his maximum demand to suspend the democratic fugue for a while and let the country be governed by an appointed people’s assembly. Who is to determine the members of such a gathering is unclear.
"Violence seems inevitable," said sunai phasuk of the human rights watch organization. "Suthep refuses to talk, that’s not the way to get a peaceful resolution.
To forestall rumors of an imminent military coup, the army said that twelve battalions will move in the next few days to hua hin, about 200 kilometers southwest of bangkok. There the king lives in a palace. It is to be presented to the soldiers on his birthday, the 5. December, there to take the oath of allegiance.
