State of emergency declared in Bangkok

April 7, 2010

A few hours ago the Thai government imposed a state of emergency here in Bangkok after red shirt protesters invaded the parliament compound. This incursion forced government ministers to evacuate via helicopter and MPs had to escape via the rear of the building.

AP has a story about the state of emergency declaration. And see the Bangkok Post for stories about today’s protests at parliament.

Key bit of info: The state of emergency gives the army the power to break up gatherings of more than five people, which would bring the protests to an end. It’s unclear when or if the military will enforce this, however.

Meanwhile, red shirt protests at the Rajaprasong intersection (blogged about here) and elsewhere continue.

Stay tuned. Don’t forget that for quick updates, you can follow me on Twitter here.

  • http://n/a Not Listed

    Hours after the state of emergency was declared I heard a series of heavy gunfire sound through Bangkok. I live north of Rajaprasong and could hear the gunfire clearly. It lasted about 5 minutes from around 10pm. No one seems to know what this was and it is thus far unreported (not a surprise since we are under S0fE). Please inform if you hear of anything.

    • http://newley.com Newley

      Interesting. I heard speculation on Twitter last night that this was due to fireworks. But then I saw a report today citing (local?) media as saying it might actually have been gunfire. Seems unclear at this point…

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