Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, said on Sunday that it’s government is preparing to end the seven-week-long protest by red shirts in the capital, Bankok, and to clear their protest site.
The seven-week protest, which has seen thousands of protesters occupying Bangkok’s commercial district, has caused an estimated 100,000 people to lose their jobs or face bankruptcy.
Speaking to reporters at an army base at the outskirts of Bangkok, the Thai prime minister said that the protesters have been given a lot of time to leave the occupied area.
“We are now in the process of sealing off and cutting off support before we actually move in,” he said.
An extra $8 million has been allocated to police to step up operations. Meanwhile protest leaders have said that they have no intention of stopping their protests. Coming mostly from the rural areas of Thailand, and loyal to former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, the red-shirt protesters are demanding the current prime minister to step down and call new elections.
The seven-week protest, which has seen thousands of protesters occupying Bangkok’s commercial district, has caused an estimated 100,000 people to lose their jobs or face bankruptcy.
Speaking to reporters at an army base at the outskirts of Bangkok, the Thai prime minister said that the protesters have been given a lot of time to leave the occupied area.
“We are now in the process of sealing off and cutting off support before we actually move in,” he said.
An extra $8 million has been allocated to police to step up operations. Meanwhile protest leaders have said that they have no intention of stopping their protests. Coming mostly from the rural areas of Thailand, and loyal to former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, the red-shirt protesters are demanding the current prime minister to step down and call new elections.
So far the protests in the capital have left 27 people dead.
