State offices will continue to function: Pracha

Pracha said he had talked to various Governors on the phone on Thursday morning and been told that the situation was in control in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Trang, Songkhla and Surat Thani. No officials had followed Suthep’s demand to strike.
“The protests cannot lead to the suspension of government operations. Officials are still working at the Department of Special Investigation. The demonstrators just want to demonstrate a ‘symbolic protest’ against the government,” he said.
 Pracha also denied that Suthep would not negotiate with the government. “Talks are going on in secret,” he said.
 He added that he does not know what the protect leaders mean when they call on Thais to join forces to help root out the so-called “Thaksin regime”. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra came to power in a fully democratic election.