Activist against amnesty bill vows to escalate protest

BANGKOK, August 6 (TNA) - A leading activist against an amnesty bill, proposed by a ruling Pheu Thai Party MP, has vowed to escalate his group's protest against the bill. Thaikorn Polsuwan, the leader of the “People’s Army”, announced his stance on Tuesday, as the Thai government has not withdrawn the amnesty bill from a House debate, set on August 7, urging people to join his group's protest at the Lumpini Park in the heart of Bangkok at 9am on August 7, when the House of Representatives is scheduled to start deliberating the amnesty bill. Thaikorn told reporters that his group's protest, which has entered its third day, is aimed at ousting the incumbent Pheu Thai Party-led coalition government. The government has imposed the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Bangkok's three districts in the vicinity of Government House and the Parliament building from August 1-10, while schools are given the green light to announce their temporary closure for the sake of students’ safety in case that there is, probably, any untoward incident. Regarding the government’s proposed plan on establishing a political reform assembly for all concerned parties to find solutions to unsettled domestic political issues, former Thai prime minister and army chief General Suchinda Kraprayoon, who celebrated his 80th birthday on August 6 and who faced anti-government protests during his term, expressed his support for the idea, but denying to join the assembly, citing his health problems, and declining to comment on the amnesty bill. In a related political issue, the Bangkok South Criminal Court ruled on Tuesday that government officers killed six people at the Pathum Wanaram Temple in the capital during a crackdown on an anti-government protest led by the red-clad United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) on May 19, 2010. The court said it has found from forensic evidence that the six people were shot with .223 high velocity bullets fired by government officers on peace-keeping duties who were deployed on the track of the BTS electric railway in front of the temple and on Rama I Road and acted under an order of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES). The court also ruled that the six victims did not involve in any weapon, as there was not a trace of gunpowder on their fingers; so, the court does not believe that there was a gunfight. Besides, no weapons were seized from the dead and no black-clad men involved as earlier speculated. The mother of a dead victim thanked the court in tears for delivering justice. (TNA)