Gaybutton Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Police plan response for UDD petition handover Writer: AEKARACH SATTABURUTH Published: 15/08/2009 Police are ready to secure the capital when Thaksin Shinawatra supporters file a petition for his pardon at the Royal Household Bureau and opponents gather at the nearby Supreme Court on Monday. Acting national police chief Wichien Pojphosri yesterday said he had discussed a security plan with the Bangkok police, the 1st Army, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Royal Household Bureau. He said an official of the Royal Household Bureau will wait at the Wiset Chaisri gate of the Grand Palace, the location of the bureau, and red shirt demonstrators will not be allowed through the gate to reach the bureau. Pol Gen Wichien asked demonstrators to maintain order and warned them not to approach the Grand Palace in huge numbers. Police will not block red shirt demonstrators from approaching the Grand Palace but will form a line to separate them from blue shirt protesters who are likely to show up at the adjacent Supreme Court. They will turn up to back veteran politician Newin Chidchob. A court verdict is due on the same day in the rubber sapling graft case in which he is implicated. Bangkok police chief Pol Lt Gen Worapong Chiewpreecha has asked the armed forces to have soldiers on standby in case Bangkok police seek their assistance on Monday. Red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said the Royal Household Bureau contacted his group to coordinate the submission of the petition and this contact proved people had the right to petition for a royal pardon for Thaksin. He said the bureau has allowed the UDD to increase the number of its representatives who will submit the petition, from eight to 15. Monks will be among those filing the petition. The document will be submitted at 1pm on Monday. Then the representatives will join over 100,000 red shirt demonstrators at Sanam Luang. There, Thaksin will phone in to thank the rally-goers for supporting the petition. The gathering is due to disperse by 3pm. The UDD had invited former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and some privy councillors and expected their response soon, he said. Afterwards, the UDD would turn to movements to oust the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, Mr Jatuporn said. Thaksin fled a two-year jail sentence last year handed down by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions for abusing his authority to help his wife Khunying Potjaman buy a state-owned land plot near Ratchadaphisek Road in 2003. ____________________ And this, from THE NATION: _____ ROYAL PARDON FOR THAKSIN Civil Service, Chula Oppose Petition By The Nation Published on August 15, 2009 Twenty-nine seniormost civil servants yesterday issued a statement opposing a Royal pardon for ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and calling on the government to prevent a petition by the red shirts for such a pardon reaching the King. The statement said the petition was designed to involve the monarchy in the political struggle and that regardless of the Royal discretion to accept or reject the petition, doubts would remain about the impartiality of the monarchy because the idea of such a pardon had been turned into a political agenda. It is the duty of every citizen and of the civil service to keep the monarchy above politics, it said. The 29 cosigners, all at permanent-secretary level, pledged not to allow such a politically motivated petition to tarnish the integrity of the monarchy, as it would, they said, if it was allowed to be presented. The 5000-strong academic community of Chulalongkorn University yesterday circulated an open letter on much the same lines. It reminded Thaksin to abide by his oath of allegiance to the King and call off the petition before it was too late. "The petition for a Royal pardon is clearly being manipulated for political gain contrary to relevant law and established court precedent and is thus tantamount to politicising the monarchy," the statement said. If a Royal pardon is truly the objective, then Thaksin is well aware of his rights and the prescribed procedures for him to petition personally for clemency, it said. It went on to make the following points: * Instead of abiding by precedent on the issue, organisers of the petition have intentionally tried to have their own way. * Thaksin, mindful of his oath, should intervene and stop his followers breaking with tradition regarding the monarchy. * If organisers go ahead and file the petition, the government ought to make a decisive move to rectify the situation by rejecting the petition on grounds of illegality and inappropriateness before it reaches His Majesty. Acting police chief General Wichien Potposri chaired a high-level meeting to beef up security around the Royal Palace in light of the red-shirt rally to file the petition. Wichien said about 450 police would be deployed on Monday to keep the peace at the Sanam Luang rally site, the Royal Palace and the Supreme Court, where a graft verdict is scheduled in the rubber-sapling case. Most of the red shirts are expected to remain in Sanam Luang while some of their leaders march to the palace, where about 15 of them, including Veera Musigapong, will submit the petition. They will present the petition at the Viset Chaisri Gate, where officials of the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary will acknowledge its receipt. Thaksin is expected to make a phone-in on Monday to the red-shirt rally, organisers said yesterday. "Thaksin wants to thank his supporters," Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan, one of the organisers, said. The red shirts will turn out in full force for the peaceful rally, Jatuporn said, adding that they would stay away from the blue shirts scheduled to rally at the nearby Supreme Court. He said the red shirts would not become involved in the handing down of the verdict on the rubber-sapling case, even though it involved their faction leader Newin Chidchob. Organisers have promised to disperse the crowds once the petition has been presented. Jatuporn said, however, that although the red shirts would out of respect for the King drop the issue of a Royal pardon after petitioning him, they planned to continue rallying against the government. Quote
Guest gay_grampa Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 So people should avoid the area of Sanam Luang and the Grand Palace on Monday. Those areas are a long way from the gay areas (at least 30 minutes in a taxi to Silom when there is no traffic) so anyone visiting for the gay scene will be unaffected. Quote
