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Thailand Foreign Minister: Protesters will never win

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Protesters will never win — Thailand Foreign Minister (caretaker)  Surapong Tovichakchaikul on Saturday said that anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban will never triumph over the government, and urged him to end the rallies completely, according to reports.

Mr Surapong’s comments came after thanking Mr Suthep for making the decision to end the “Bangkok Shutdown” campaign and to combine all the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest sites into one at Lumpini park, while dismantling all the other sites and clearing the blocked roads in Bangkok.

“If possible, I would like Mr Suthep to end the rallies entirely because the protest had continually been raised to higher levels but it had not succeeded, said Mr Suporn.

“Mr Suthep always changed the conditions and he still couldn’t defeat the government. If he continues fighting, he would do more harm to himself”.

Acting Thailand Foreign Minister Mr Surapong, who is also an adviser to the government’s Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO), said just prior to a security meeting that he wanted to thank Mr Suthep for returning blocked traffic lanes and allowing businesses to return to normal, said a Bangkok Post report.

Mr Surapong also said the PDRC’s decision to end the Bangkok Shutdown was likely due to the declining number of protesters, and this was because of Mr Suthep’s “undemocratic” demands, he contended.

Mr Suthep has said the PDRC would continue to close down government offices and Shinawatra family businesses.

In a speech from a rally stage on Saturday, Mr Suthep repeatedly made jibes at “missing” Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and jokes about her “second capital” in Chiang Mai, said reports.

Thailand Foreign Minister, said the Bangkok Shutdown campaign had served its purpose and it was time for a new push to oust the “stubborn” caretaker government.

“If this was any other country in the world, we would have won by now,” he claimed.

Thailand army chief: Coup dangerous, but cannot be ruled out

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Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday said he could not promise there would or would not be a coup to end the ongoing political crisis, but that it would be a “dangerous” option. (Image: englishnews.thaipbs.or.th)

Thailand army chief: Coup dangerous, but cannot be ruled out — Thailand army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday repeated that he cannot promise that there will or will not be a military coup in response to the ongoing political stalemate, according to reports.

He said coups were staged in the past because there was violence and injustice, but now the world has changed, as well as political conditions and people.

Gen Prayuth told reporters that the military is trying to avoid getting to the stage where a coup is even considered because it is dangerous.

“I can’t promise whether there will be a coup. I have to admit that it might not be legal but previous coups were carried out to end certain situations. “Every problem must be solved using the law. But if it still can’t be solved, we may have to use special means,” he said, according to a Bangkok Post report.

Gen Prayuth said the army is not supporting the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) as some have claimed, adding that supporters of the PDRC and of the pro-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) are all Thai people.

He said military officers can take part in political rallies, but not during working hours, and they are prohibited from carrying military weapons. Violating these rules could result in their dismissal from military service.

The army chief also insisted that grenades fired at anti-government protest sites from M79 launchers recently were not from the military.

The army’s grenades are still in the arsenal, and they are inspected every day, he said, adding that they were probably smuggled from somewhere else.

Gen Prayuth condemned the people involved in the attacks as inhumane.

“The M79 grenades should be used against enemies of the country but they are now being fired at civilians, including children, women and elderly people,” he said.