Thai deputy PM appeals to police, army to act

Supporters of Thai exiled ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra block armoured personnel carriers along a street in Bangkok yesterday. Anti-government protesters seized an army tank deployed to enforce a state of emergency in the Thai capital Bangkok and may have taken others. Photo: AFP

Thailand's deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday appealed directly to soldiers and police to act to enforce a state of emergency.
Suthep, the minister assigned to implement emergency measures announced hours earlier, urged the security forces to get tough as they appeared reluctant to deal with anti-government protesters.
"Police and military, you must carry out your duty to your best ability and restore normalcy as soon as possible," he said in an address broadcast live to the nation.
"I... will take all responsibility for all your actions," he added. "These are not constitutional demonstrators. They have injured senior officials."
Red-clad protesters loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006, were earlier seen standing atop a pair of armoured cars driven by soldiers down a Bangkok highway.
Armed soldiers and tanks have been deployed across the capital and surrounding areas to crack down on protesters demanding Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's resignation and fresh elections.
Protesters armed with sticks and paving slabs earlier smashed a car they mistakenly thought was carrying the prime minister.
The incidents followed the arrest early Sunday of the leader of activists loyal to Thaksin who stormed an Asian summit on Thailand's coast on Saturday, forcing it to be cancelled.
Waving red flags and shouting slogans, jubilant anti-government protesters stood atop one of a pair of armoured cars as they sped down a Bangkok highway -- driven by soldiers.
The bizarre scene unfolded after a state of emergency was declared to quell the demonstrations, sending tanks and armoured vehicles fanning into the streets of the capital backed by scores of troops.
It was unclear whether the soldiers deployed to enforce the security measure were sympathetic to the demonstrators' cause, or just giving them a friendly lift.
But it underscored the way that the army has repeatedly been reluctant to use force during months of political turmoil despite the orders of their political masters.
The protesters, who want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to quit, have capitalised on this apparent ambivalence to wreck an Asian summit in the beach resort of Pattaya, and then cause chaos in the capital over the weekend.