ISA enforcement to stay: Pracha
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The enforcement of Internal Security Act will continue in light of the attack on the rally site, Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said on Friday.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed that security measures be tightened for the duration of the visit of the Chinese premier, Pracha said.
He also blamed a “third party” for trying to stir up trouble by attacking the rally site.
Several Molotov cocktails in energy drink bottles were hurled at tents of protesters led by the People's Army Against Thaksin Regime early Friday morning.
A guard was slightly injured when he stepped on broken glass.
A bottle bomb was thrown at about 2.30am Friday from a vehicle on the express way. The attackers also threw down handbills with the message: “You make traffic jam, you should find a new area for your rally”.
A taxi was damaged and two rally guards were injured by the bomb.
Pracha said he thinks the fire bomb tossed at the People's Army to Overthrow the Thaksin Regime, which is holding a rally at the Urupong intersection, was the work of a third party and added that the rally site was hard to protect because of its location under the express way.
He also urged police to take care of the protesters. However, he was not considering expanding the scope of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to Urupong intersection and was waiting for an official assessment of the situation.
On Thursday, the anti-government protesters decided to vacate the Government House area and relocate to Lumpini Park. However, a number of protesters voiced disappointment with the decision and continued to congregate near the Nang Lerng area before moving on to Urupong intersection, which is not covered by the ISA for Dusit, Pomprap Sattruphai and Phra Nakhon districts.
Police were coordinating with the Expressway Authority of Thailand and had asked for CCTV camera footage to help hunt down the bombers.
Police said the bottle bombs were filled with that paraffin oil and didn’t contain any explosives so it was likely that the bombers only wanted to bully the protesters.
