Anti-amnesty protests spread in Thailand

Anti-amnesty protests spread Published: 4 Nov 2013 at 18.34 Online news: by Bangkok Post. . As the Democrat-engineered rallies against amnesty gained more strength in Bangkok on Monday, other protest centres sprang up in other parts of the country. In Nakhon Si Thammarat in the middle South, a network of civic groups gathered at the provincial hall and marched through a central business district to express opposition to the blanket amnesty. The crowd encouraged onlookers to join. Students of Ubon Ratchathani University in the Northeast issued a statement calling on members of the public and students nationwide to join the anti-amnesty movement. They said they will travel to Bangkok to join the rallies if the bill is passed into law. In Khon Kaen, police called reinforcements to face a rally at the provincial hall, where protesters announced in the afternoon they intended to move from the City Pillar Shrine to rally at the governor's office Monday night. Opponents of the bill in Nakhon Ratchasima, gateway to the Northeast, gathered at Thao Suranari Monument, while security agencies held talks with Governor Winai Buapradit. The security meeting agreed to set up a centre for the administration of peace and order to handle a rally expected to attract a large crowd. Security officials called in more riot police officers and defence volunteers to boost the security contingent guarding the provincial hall to 200. In Trang, on the Andaman seacoast in the South, authorities declared an emergency under the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act around the provincial hall, even though no rally had been staged. Many people, including amnesty dissidents, complained the Trang security measure was too early and excessive. It meant they had difficulty doing normal business at the provincial hall, as visitors were not allowed to drive onto the premises. They were directed to park their vehicles at a limited parking space and enter only via the rear door. In Songkhla, almost 1,000 students gathered at Thaksin University and formed a convoy of motorcycles to ride around the municipality. They urged residents to attend a rally against the amnesty bill to be held every evening, beginning Monday, at Phraphuttasi Songklanakarin intersection. The students were from Songkhla Rajabhat University, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya and Thaksin University. Residents in Tamot district of next-door Phatthalung province also held a protest rally. The protesters said some of them had gone to attend demonstrations in Bangkok.