Association between rubber farmers protest and Bangkok rallies noted
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The rubber farmers' protest in the South appears to be related to the anti-government protesters, National Security Council secretary-general Paradorn Pattanatabutr said on Tuesday.
In his report about the rallies to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, he said that security agencies feel the protests are related. He added that demonstrators of both rallies could come together to protest against the government’s amnesty bill as well as a negative ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Preah Vihear Temple on November 11.
“Right now we can see an obvious plan with a specific date and time already set. If the amnesty bill gets through and the Preah Viharn verdict is negative, there will be an immediate movement by the protestors. Now that they given us a signal, it’s imperative we keep our eye on them,” Paradorn said.
He said the rubber farmers' rally aimed to test if the police were well prepared or otherwise but added that the police should be able to handle the situation without assistance from the military.
