UN Wire
09/21/2009
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called for calm amid violent clashes near the Cambodian border, huge anti-government protests and the hospitalization of beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej -- factors that have contributed to a chaotic weekend throughout the nation. Some 9,000 security forces were deployed in Bangkok to meet more than 20,000 red-shirted supporters of the exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- while 2,000 yellow-shirted anti-Thaksin protesters met at a cliff-top temple to protest the handover of the border temple to Cambodia, which they consider a giveaway motivated by politics. Los Angeles Times (09/21)
King of Thailand in hospital
Thailand's 81-year-old King was in hospital yesterday, undergoing treatment for a third day.
Thailand has suffered years of political turmoil and the King's death could be the cause of further instability. The heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, does not yet enjoy his father's moral authority.
But open debate on the monarchy's future is constrained by draconian lese-majeste laws that punish criticism of the royal family with up to 15 years in jail.
Thais fear that without the unifying force of the King, the simmering tensions in the polarised political landscape could burst into the open. Last month, King Bhumibol took the unusual step of warning that Thailand could "collapse" unless its feuding political parties put aside their differences.
2 comments:
HE still alive?
let there hell for thailand when King Bhumibol leave this world. i see endless deaths and destructions brought upon thailand for all the bad deeds done onto others. let the pain and suffering begin. let there be civil war and constant division of many warring factions in its kingdom.
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