Word: bangkok
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...confidence that it can manage the protests that swelled to 100,000 this weekend, Abhisit's ability to outlast the demonstrations is unclear considering the potential volatility of the situation. By late Monday afternoon, an army spokesman said four hand grenades had been launched from pickup trucks at Bangkok's main army base. Abhisit has already invoked special security laws and 30,000 troops have been posted to the capital to maintain order. Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said that some red shirts want to provoke the military into responding with violence so the majority of the public would turn against...
...Government Spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said it was unlikely Prime Minister Abhisit would resign even if the protesters were able to temporarily paralyze parts of Bangkok. "They did that last year and the Prime Minister did not resign. We have the capability and legal authority to clear the streets if they begin breaking the law," he said...
...Still, the threat to paralyze Bangkok yet again has put the city on edge. Many roads in the normally traffic-choked capital were virtually empty on Sunday. Last April, the red shirts, staging a similar protest, rioted in several spots around Bangkok, setting buses on fire, attacking the Prime Minister's car, and threatening to blow up a housing project with gas tanker trucks. The government called on the military to restore order, and troops cleared the streets without bloodshed. Conversely, anti-Thaksin demonstrators, called the yellow shirts, invaded and occupied government offices and Bangkok International Airport, shutting it down...
...Panitan said that he suspects some red shirts hope to provoke the military into responding with force, or even stage an incident so that the military will be blamed. They would then appeal to constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej to intervene. The 82-year-old king, recuperating in a Bangkok hospital from a lung infection, has on occasion intervened to end bloodshed and forge a compromise during times of crisis. Thaksin's opponents have questioned whether he and the red shirt movement are loyal to the monarch...
...some lawmakers formerly loyal to Thaksin defected and formed an alliance with the Democrats. Military leaders reportedly played a role in inducing the defection, and that scenario has Thaksin supporters characterizing the government as "unelected." Abhisit and security officials were monitoring the protests from an Army base in Bangkok, which the protesters have said they will surround if he does not resign...