All Bangkok rally sites but one close March 3
In a speech in the evening of February 28, Thailand’s anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said that all Bangkok rally sites except the one at Lumpini Park will be closed and cleaned up by March 3, adding that the fight to oust the Yingluck Shinawatra government was far from over.
All of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) rally stages will be dismantled and blocked roads cleared, and all activities will then be moved to Lumpini Park, Suthep said.
But Luang Pu Buddha Issara, who is in charge of the Chaeng Watthana rally site, said shortly after Suthep’s announcement that he would keep running the stage.
“The stage here will remain no matter what. I will not dismantle or move it anywhere,” the senior monk declared.
Suthep’s decision brings to an end six weeks of major disruptions at strategic locations across the capital that started on Janaury 13 as anti-government campaigners sought to force the caretaker government’s resignation.
“We would like to return traffic lanes to our Bangkok brothers and sisters,” Suthep told the crowd at the Pathumwan intersection on Friday night. “My sincere apologies to all Bangkokians for the inconvenience. It’s just something we had to do.”
He said nobody had forced him to dismantle the sites, not even the “incompetent” caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her deputy Chalerm Yubamrung.
“We decided to stop the ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ but we’ll continue to close down government offices and businesses of the Shinawatra family as usual and our fight will be more intense,” Suthep said. “I’m determined to end this by March so we can start national reform, so please be patient.”
[caption id="attachment_21235" align="alignleft" width="224"] Bangkok's Lumpini Park remains the protestors' last stronghold (Pic Arno Maierbrugger)[/caption] In a speech in the evening of February 28, Thailand's anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said that all Bangkok rally sites except the one at Lumpini Park will be closed and cleaned up by March 3, adding that the fight to oust the Yingluck Shinawatra government was far from over. All of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) rally stages will be dismantled and blocked roads cleared, and all activities will then be moved to Lumpini Park, Suthep said. But Luang Pu Buddha Issara, who...
In a speech in the evening of February 28, Thailand’s anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said that all Bangkok rally sites except the one at Lumpini Park will be closed and cleaned up by March 3, adding that the fight to oust the Yingluck Shinawatra government was far from over.
All of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) rally stages will be dismantled and blocked roads cleared, and all activities will then be moved to Lumpini Park, Suthep said.
But Luang Pu Buddha Issara, who is in charge of the Chaeng Watthana rally site, said shortly after Suthep’s announcement that he would keep running the stage.
“The stage here will remain no matter what. I will not dismantle or move it anywhere,” the senior monk declared.
Suthep’s decision brings to an end six weeks of major disruptions at strategic locations across the capital that started on Janaury 13 as anti-government campaigners sought to force the caretaker government’s resignation.
“We would like to return traffic lanes to our Bangkok brothers and sisters,” Suthep told the crowd at the Pathumwan intersection on Friday night. “My sincere apologies to all Bangkokians for the inconvenience. It’s just something we had to do.”
He said nobody had forced him to dismantle the sites, not even the “incompetent” caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her deputy Chalerm Yubamrung.
“We decided to stop the ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ but we’ll continue to close down government offices and businesses of the Shinawatra family as usual and our fight will be more intense,” Suthep said. “I’m determined to end this by March so we can start national reform, so please be patient.”
