17/01/2014 10:50
Bangkok police finds whereabouts of opposition leader
The Thai police have located the whereabouts of the leader of a recent rally in Bangkok, Suthep Thaugsuban. He is hiding in a hotel in a district of Bangkok called Ratchaprasong, the Voice of Russia reported.
Now, the police are waiting for a suitable chance to arrest him.
Suthep is charged of treason and invasion into government buildings.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, who is also the chief of the Centre of Administration for Peace and Order, says Suthep is heavily protected by at least 40 guards and a convoy of 8 cars.
Since Monday, the consular affairs department of the Thai Foreign Ministry, which is situated at Chaeng Wattana Road, is being blockaded by protesters. The blockade made the department suspend its work.
Surapong has called on the protesters to lift the blockade, saying that normally, the Foreign Ministry’s consular affairs department issues about 4,000 passports a day.
Surapong says that the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, an opposition organization headed by Suthep Thaugsuban, should review its tactics, because the rallies are creating inconveniences for the country’s economy and people.
In return, opposition spokesman Aknat Prmphan says that the police should be responsible for attacks on opposition rallies and on the house of one of the opposition’s leaders, Issara Somchai.
Explosive devices were thrown into rallies in the districts of Pathumwan and Lat Phrao and Issara’s house in the district of Laksi in Bangkok last night.
Akanat also claims that an underground armed movement is helping the government to suppress the opposition.
He also accused the police of abusing their authority by placing anti-opposition posters in the city and agitating police officers’ families to join anti-opposition activities.