AS People’s Party and red-shirt demonstrators steadily started gathering in front of Siam Commercial Bank’s Ratchayothin head office early this afternoon (Nov. 25) Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed martial law will not be imposed with the normal legal structure being sufficient to control the situation, Siam Rath newspaper and Voice TV reported.
Protesters were continuously moving to the front of this bank’s head office with a pickup truck equipped with amplifiers having also arrived, but as yet leaders had not started giving speeches with just red-shirt songs being played.
The protest venue was shifted to this bank’s head office from the Crown Property Bureau at 7.30 a.m. this morning.
Traffic was still flowing normally on Ratchadapisek road with police not closing any section of this key artery because protesters were assembling in the front parking lot of the bank complex.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Prayut confirmed during a US-Asean Business Council meeting at the Foreign Ministry today that he has already said several times he has not thought about imposing martial law with normal laws being sufficient to control protests.
He added that it is common for demonstrations to take place in countries that have a democratic system because it is not possible to get everyone to agree with everything.
He also said that he does not want to accuse any group of being bad but everything must be lawful with those making mistakes being prosecuted.
He told people to consider why the traffic was paralysed this morning after police used containers to block a road leading to the Crown Property Bureau.
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The atmosphere at the SCB head office early afternoon. Photos: Siam Rath
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