Trouble brewing in Bangkok
Updated
Hundreds of thousands of protestors are expected to begin converging on Bangkok for a rally that the Red Shirt supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra claim will bring down the government.Tension is high and there were a number of grenade attacks and reports about the theft of weapons from army bases. It's feared that even if the protest is largely peaceful, large sections of Bangkok will be paralysed by the march.
Presenter: Conor Duffy
Speakers: Indian tourist in Bangkok; Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch
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CONOR DUFFY: The bustling streets here at Khao San Road are one of Bangkok's best known tourist attractions, and lured by the bright lights and party lifestyle, millions of backpackers from around the world have made it a temporary home.
The streets here are packed with young travellers enjoying everything the famous nightclub strip has to offer. But now Thailand's unstable political situation threatens to crash the party.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to start massing nearby and Thai authorities have warned that tourists here should exercise extreme caution.
INDIAN TOURIST: I've come from India right.
CONOR DUFFY: Did you hear that Thai authorities yesterday said that tourists around the Khao San Road area should exercise extreme caution?
INDIAN TOURIST: I think so. They warned before, they warned about the tourists. Every tourist has to be very cautious. It is better not to be close to the demonstration anything can happen. So I reckon even myself I'm going to stay in, no matter for three days, but everybody love their lives, I don't want to put myself in a critical situation.
CONOR DUFFY: The warnings are backed up by some serious fire power.
There are 30,000 soldiers, 10,000 police and thousands more civilian volunteers fanning out across the city. They are on high alert after the theft of a large cache of rifles and ammunition from an army base in the south of the country and a number of small grenade attacks in Bangkok.
Government authorities say that while most of the red shirts who support ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are likely to be peaceful, they have intelligence that breakaway factions have been urging their supporters to come to the protest with weapons as well as placards.
Sunai Phasuk from Human Rights Watch says he's concerned about violence from soldiers and the red shirts.
SUNAI PHASUK: I am still disturbed by ongoing incitement of violence by numerous leaders of the red shirts who, on the one hand, coming out talking to foreign journalists, talking to diplomats that they will play by the rule, they will respect democratic principle, but when they go up on the stage addressing their own people the language is completely to help these to incite violence.
CONOR DUFFY: Back at the famous party strip, the tourists as well as everyone else in Thailand will be hoping the worst predictions for a violent weekend don't come true.
