Thai Protesters Reach Government, Police HQ as Police Withdraw
Thai opposition protesters have reached government and police headquarters in Bangkok after security forces pulled back, saying they did not want a confrontation.
The protesters encountered no resistance Tuesday outside the Government House, which holds the prime minister's office, and the metropolitan police facilities.
Earlier, police removed barbed-wire barricades outside the buildings in what is being seen as a change of strategy following days of violent clashes with protesters.
Police chief Kamronwit Thoopkrajang said his forces will not use tear gas and have been ordered to withdraw in line with the government policy of avoiding confrontation.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday refused to meet the protesters' demand that she step down and turn the government over to an unelected council.
The prime minister had vowed police will not use violence, but on Monday authorities used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to keep the demonstrators from taking over more government buildings.
At least four people have been killed and scores wounded in the protests, which are Thailand's largest since 2010.
Shinawatra said on Monday that she met with anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban. She said the meeting was held under the auspices of the military, which says it is neutral in the conflict.
She told reporters that Suthep's demands that she resign, dissolve parliament and turn the government over to an unelected "people's council" were not possible under the law.
The prime minister said she was willing to do anything she could to make people happy, but also said that what any course of action must be legal under the constitution.
Protest leader Suthep urged government workers to strike Monday. His comments were televised live on almost every station, including state-owned Thai PBS, which agreed to broadcast the speech after protesters surged into its compound.
Opposition leaders have proposed an alternative to the country's democracy - a vaguely defined people's council made up of representatives from many professions - and vowed to take over every ministry until Yingluck resigns.
The prime minister survived a no-confidence vote in parliament Thursday. She refuses to quit and has called for dialogue to resolve the situation.
The conflict pits Bangkok's urban middle class and royalist elite against the mostly poor, rural supporters of Yingluck and her billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister ousted in a 2006 military coup.
The latest demonstrations were triggered several weeks ago by an amnesty bill that would have allowed Thaksin to return home and avoid a two-year jail term for corruption. The Senate rejected the bill but protests have continued.
Source: Voice of America
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