US sharpshooters near Govt House
Snipers to be based on buildings for visit next Sunday; Secret service team seeks 'small' meeting with Yingluck
The US Secret Service will station sharpshooters on tall buildings around Government House as part of security for President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit to the compound on Sunday evening, a well-informed source said yesterday.
Obama will make an official visit to the Kingdom on Sunday and Monday. The Government House source said the US president would also be guarded by Secret Service officers during his visit to Government House, while Thai security officials would monitor at a certain distance.
The Secret Service will deploy its sharpshooters on buildings around Government House, including the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives building, the Civil Service Commission building and the National Anti-Corruption Commission building, the source said.
Obama is scheduled to arrive in Bangkok at 3pm on Sunday and will visit Government House at 5pm. He will stay overnight before leaving for Myanmar the next day. The source said Obama might stay at the Hyatt Erawan Hotel or the Conrad Hotel near the US embassy.
The planned visit prompted the US Secret Service to deploy a forward team to Government House yesterday to inspect the area as part of the security preparations.
The forward team made an inspection along with Thai officials for half an hour before meeting on details and schedules of the visit to provide protection for Obama.
According to the source, the US Secret Service forward team was told that Obama would be escorted by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to review the guard of honour at a welcoming ceremony in front of Government House. Obama would then proceed to a reception room in the Thai Kufah building for a bilateral meeting.
The US Secret Service team asked that only the prime minister and a few Cabinet members attend the meeting for easier security, the source said.
The source said Yingluck and Obama would hold a joint press conference, but reporters would be allowed only four questions – two to Obama and two to Yingluck.
The US Embassy informed Thai officials during the meeting that 80 foreign reporters and 20 reporters from the White House would follow the US president to cover the visit at Government House, while about 100 Thai media crews would cover the event.
The US Secret Service team asked Thai officials to strictly check identification cards of Thai reporters. The team also informed the Thai side that only a cameraman of Modern Nine TV and a photographer from Government House would be present during the bilateral meeting and the reception party inside the Santi Maitree building.
The source said the US Secret Service would send its officials to check the Government House compound every day until Sunday.
As part of the security arrangements, Phitsanulok Road from Chamai Maruchet Bridge to Misakawan Intersection and the Rama V Road from Phanakorn Commerce School to Orathai Bridge would be closed to traffic, the source said.
The source said it had not been decided whether Obama would stop to see an exhibition of the Loy Krathong festival when he leaves the outer Santi Maitree building to enter the inner
Santi Maitree building for the reception party. The US wanted the president to walk by, but the Thai side wanted him to stop to see the exhibition on the open ground between the two buildings, the source said.
