Thai Tensions Eased as Police Lift Barricades


Thai Tensions Eased as Police Lift Barricades

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Anti-government protesters in Thailand crossed heavily fortified barriers and reached the gates of the prime minister's office without resistance from the police.

Hundreds of protesters poured onto the lawn of Government House in Bangkok, waving Thai flags and blowing whistles.

The surprise development eased the tensions in the Thai capital following three days of clashes between the security forces and demonstrators who seek to overthrow Yingluck Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister.

Earlier on Tuesday, police said they would no longer use force to defend their Bangkok headquarters from protesters.

Kamronwit Thoopkrajang, the Metropolitan Police Chief Lieutenant General, told AFP news agency that his officers would no longer try to fend off protesters at the police base.

"The Metropolitan Police Headquarters belongs to the public," he said.

"There will be no use of tear gas today… Last night a police officer was injured by a gunshot so if we resist there will be more injuries, and we are all Thais."

Police used cranes to remove concrete slabs and barbed wire barricades on a road leading to the city police headquarters.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Government House, said that there was a carnival atmosphere around the building. He added that protest leaders call on the demonstrators not to enter the office yet.

The protests were ignited by an amnesty bill, which opponents feared would have allowed Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister and Yingluck Shinawatra’s husband, to return to the country. He was removed from his seat in a 2006 coup.

 

 

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