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Officers will be deployed today at Sanam Luang, Parliament amidst anti-govt protests

Thousands of police will today throw a security cordon around Sanam Luang and Parliament, where the "red shirts" are planning a protest in a bid to block the Democrat-led government from delivering a policy statement.

More than 3,000 police from 23 companies attached to the Metropolitan Police Bureau and the Border Patrol Police, 1,200 police from eight companies of Police Regions 1, 2 and 7 and 450 police from three combat-support companies are on stand-by to move to the scene within one hour. Each company consists of about 150 officers.

House Speaker Chai Chidchob was yesterday optimistic that there would not be any violence when the government delivered its policy statement tomorrow or Tuesday, and he saw no need to postpone the meeting or move it elsewhere.

However, he said he was prepared to do so if the red-shirted supporters of the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship blocked MPs from entering Parliament.

Police commissioner-general Pol General Phatcharawat Wongsuwan and his deputy Pol General Wiroj Paholvej plus Bangkok police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Mueankaew met yesterday and drew up a plan to prevent the protest from escalating into violence and block destruction of property, such as happened on the day Parliament voted for the prime minister early this month.

Suchart instructed his superiors to issue statements warning the protesters to gather peacefully and without arms. If they do not comply with police warnings and the protest turns violent, police will fire tear gas as a last resort, as was done against the People's Alliance for Democracy on October 7 when the PAD tried to block Parliament from hearing a policy statement, he said.

Chai dismissed fears that the red shirts would cut power to Parliament, as the PAD had done. He said a new power line had since been laid underground.

He said the government could run the administration without delivering a policy statement because the second paragraph of Article 176 of the Consti-tution stipulated that if there was an emergency and valid reason, the government did not need to deliver a statement within 15 days of assuming office.

'WE ARE NOT WORRIED'

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban dismissed fears that the government would not be able to deliver its policy statement because the red shirts would "set Hell loose".

He said Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan's threat was no more than "an advertisement or trailer" for a movie. "We are not worried,'' he said.

He said the Pheu Thai Party had been threatening to attack the government over three issues: the appointment of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, the reinstatement of national police chief Phatcharawat, who is the younger brother of Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, and the accusation against the PM that he had dodged military conscription.

He said the government could clear itself of all three allegations.

Deputy Interior Minister Boonjong Wongtrairat denied that he had instructed police to block protesters from coming to Bangkok to join the red shirts' rally. The red shirts had threatened to take legal action against Boonjong for exercising his powers before the government delivered its policy statement.

Boonjong said he had not issued official instructions as such.

The three hosts of the "Truth Today" show and leaders of the DAAD said the red shirts would protest outside Parliament to pressure Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down. They said they had no intention to provoke violence and would not lay siege to Parliament.

Veera Musikapong, a DAAD leader, said the red shirts would gather in Sanam Luang today as a show of force against dictatorship. He said the military had robbed the country of democracy on September 19 and again clandestinely by forcing politicians to form the Democrat-led government.

Jatuporn countered that on the day Parliament voted for the prime minister, the red shirts had thrown stones at MPs' cars because they did not have leaders to control them. "No such incident will be repeated at today's protest,'' he said.