Thai protesters flout premier's state of emergency

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's embattled leader struggled to keep the peace and his grip on power Tuesday after declaring a state of emergency that was openly flouted by thousands of anti-government protesters in the capital.

While Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej sought to tamp down newly violent unrest pitting pro- and anti-government protesters, he also was hit by an electoral commission finding that could disband his party and bar him from politics.
Samak said he had no choice but to impose emergency rule in Bangkok after a week of political tensions exploded into overnight rioting and street fighting between the largely prosperous urban protesters and government supporters, mainly from the country's impoverished rural majority. The fighting left one person dead and dozens injured.

His decree gives the military the right to restore order, allows authorities to suspend civil liberties, bans public gatherings of more than five people and bars the media from reporting news that "causes panic."

Samak and the army chief, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, both said authorities viewed emergency rule as a last resort and stressed they wanted to avoid violence.

"I did it to solve the problems of the country," Samak said in a televised news conference at a military headquarters in Bangkok. "I had no other choice. The softest means available was an emergency decree to end the situation using the law."

At a separate news conference, Anupong said troops in Bangkok's streets will be armed only with riot shields and batons.

"If the military has to get involved, it will not use force and will be on the people's side," Anupong said. He dismissed speculation the army was positioning itself to seize power again, less than two years after a 2006 coup.

"If the military uses force to stage a coup, it will create a lot more problems," the general said.

Tensions remained high as thousands of protesters who are demanding Samak's resignation defied the ban on assembly by staying camped out at the prime minister's official compound, known as Government House, which they seized seven days earlier.

As a precaution, City Hall ordered 435 public schools closed for three days, while some international private schools opted to shut for a week. The U.S. and other nations warned their citizens of the danger of violence in the capital.

By nightfall, there was no sign of renewed clashes or any attempt to evict the protesters. But the festive atmosphere of recent days had evaporated. Families and children were mostly gone and helmet-clad protesters armed with sticks patrolled the grounds.