Fearing Crackdown, Red-shirt Protesters Force Bangkok Railway System to Shut

As Thai government warns to quell the growing unrest in Bangkok, the red-shirt protesters forced city’s elevated railway system to shut, said media reports.

The protestors threw tyres on the elevated city rail tracks in an attempt to foil a suspected military crackdown against them, reports said.

Tyres were laid on the rails at a station above the protest site to prevent security personnel from using it for a possible surprise attack.

Consequently, Bangkok’s Skytrain was halted for several hours, forcing many commuters to walk to work, said reports.

The capital is being guarded by soldiers with guns after it was rocked by the worst political unrest for almost two decades, killing 26 people and injuring nearly 1000 this month.

The government said that it would not tolerate road blocks set up by the protesters – who have been staging weeks of rolling rallies to campaign for immediate elections – to prevent troop reinforcements heading to the capital, reports said.

“The government has intensified measures against protesters because they have created a situation of unrest by setting up checkpoints which violate other people’s rights,” Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban was quoted as saying while talking to reporters.

“We cannot talk to these people any longer,” he was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, considered as elitist and undemocratic by his opponents, said that his government was striving to find a political solution to the crisis, but he warned that it would take time, said reports.

“We will try to enforce the law with minimum losses and we will try to find a political resolution, but it takes time, patience and cooperation,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with CNN.

Abhisit has turned down an offer by the Reds to disperse if elections are held in three months’ time.

(Based on internet reports)