BANGKOK: The anti-government protesters in Thailand took to the streets in the capital Bangkok on Wednesday despite the start of a 60-day state of emergency imposed in a bid to control the violent protests and deteriorating situation in the Southeast Asian country.
“We’re not taking any notice of the state of emergency and are continuing our protest as usual,” a foreign news agency quoted rally spokesperson Akanat Promphan as saying.
“It shows that the government is getting desperate because the momentum is with us.”
On Tuesday, the Thai government imposed a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces from January 22 (today) to cope with the nation’s increasingly violent political crisis. The emergency gave the security agencies power to impose curfews, detain suspects without charge, censor media, and ban political gatherings of more than give persons.
Meanwhile a leader of the pro-government “red shirt” movement Kwanchai Praipana, who played a key role in the 2010 mass rallies in Bangkok, was injured after he was shot in the shoulder and knee on Wednesday by unknown persons at his home in northeastern Udon Thani town, a stronghold of Prime Minister Shinawatra Yingluck.
