Anti-government protesters, whose rallies I’ve written about before, stepped up their demonstrations today. Above is AP video of scuffles that broke out with police.
Here’s a recap of what happened today:
- Protesters began marching to 13 locations around the city this morning, then later forced their way into the Finance Ministry.
- Demonstrators also entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this evening. The Bangkok Post says leader Suthep Thaugsuban calls the ministry a “second official rally site.”
- A German photojournalist was targeted at one protest. Reuters says he “was attacked after a speaker at one protest site identified him as a pro-government sympathizer.” The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand issued a statement calling on the protest leaders to publicly guarantee reporters’ rights.
Other stories:
Regarding economic implications, The WSJ quotes an analyst as saying:
“Investor sentiment on Thailand is in the doldrums at the moment,” said Barnabas Gan, an analyst covering the country for OCBC. “The current protests right now basically confirmed the pessimism that global investors have” over the country, he said.
There’s more from Bloomberg. And The NYT has some color from the Finance Ministry:
By late afternoon, protesters could be seen napping and snacking in two of the ministry’s conference rooms, but they had not yet penetrated the main offices. Riot police have been deployed in Bangkok for several weeks, but no police officers were visible in the compound.
Mr. Suthep said protesters had chosen to occupy the Finance Ministry because it is at the heart of the government.
“From now on, this government can no longer transfer money,” he said. “Not a single coin will be used by the Thaksin regime anymore.”
Monitoring the protest sites
Richard Barrow maintains a Google map of Bangkok protest areas:
View Protest Areas in Bangkok in November 2013 in a larger map
I also suggest following Richard on Twitter for updates.
My Twitter lists
- You can follow my 95-strong list of Bangkok journalists.
- I also have a list of 476 Thailand Twitter accounts; this includes Thai news organizations.
Blogs to watch
- Saksith at Siam Voices is live-blogging the protests. I also Suggest following him on Twitter.
- For analysis, keep an eye on Bangkok Pundit‘s blog; BP is also on Twitter here
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Advice for US citizens
The US Embassy’s American Citizen Services Tweeted this tonight:
Demonstrations continue in Bangkok. Please monitor local news media for latest information. http://t.co/iJAyTm9Vin
— ACS Bangkok (@ACSBKK) November 25, 2013
Follow me on Twitter
As always, follow me on Twitter for the latest.
2 replies on “Bangkok protests: What happened today and how to follow the news”
Thanks for this, Newley. Very helpful. Great work, as always.
Thanks for your comment, Dale. I’m glad to help.