- published: 20 Jan 2014
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Thai government considers state of emergency after weekend violence For more Latest and Breaking News Headlines SUBSCRIBE to https://www.youtube.com/user/ZakWorldNEWS Thai authorities are "very seriously" considering a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the capital where protesters have been trying for more than two months to bring down the government, the security chief said on Monday. Though the size of the demonstrations has declined, protesters have managed to shut down some government offices, forcing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to shift her workplace and snarl Bangkok's traffic. "We're prepared to use the emergency decree... Everyone involved including the police, the military and the government is considering this option very seriously but has not yet come to an agreement," National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattantabutr told Reuters after a meeting with Yingluck. "The protesters have said they will close various government offices. So far their closures have been symbolic, they go to government offices and then they leave. But if their tactics change and they close banks or government offices permanently then the chance for unrest increases and we will have to invoke this law," he said. The emergency decree gives security agencies broad powers to impose curfews, detain suspects without charge, censor media, ban political gatherings of more than five people and declare parts of the country off limits. One man was killed and dozens of people were wounded, some seriously, when grenades were thrown at anti-government protesters in the city centre on Friday and Sunday. "I think these attacks have been designed to provoke an army reaction," said Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asian Affairs in Chiang Mai, predicting a measured increase in the violence. That in turn could prompt the Election Commission to refuse to oversee the February 2 election called by Yingluck and which the main opposition has said it will boycott, he said. The protests, led by 64-year-old anti-government firebrand Suthep Thaugsuban, were triggered by Yingluck's moves last year to grant amnesty to her brother, the self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Protesters accuse the billionaire businessman Thaksin of rampant graft and want to remove the influence of family, promising ill-defined political reforms. The violence is the latest episode in an eight-year conflict that pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against poorer, mainly rural supporters of Thaksin and his sister. The government has mostly avoided direct confrontation with protesters while the army, which has staged or attempted 18 coups in 81 years of on-off democracy, has stayed neutral. The violence is the worst since 2010 when Suthep, at the time a deputy prime minister, sent in troops to end mass protests by pro-Thaksin supporters. Suthep faces murder charges related to his role in the 2010 military crackdown when more than 90 people were killed, and for insurrection in leading the latest protests. Yingluck faces legal challenges with the country's anti-corruption agency saying last week it would start investigating her role in loss-making government rice purchase scheme. The scheme has won her party huge support in the rural north and northeast of the country. But there are signs of growing discontent among farmers who say they have not been paid for their rice and are threatening to block major roads. TAGS abc breaking news, bbc, bbc football, bbc iplayer, bbc news, bbc news america, bbc persian, bbc sport, bbc weather, bbc world news, breaking celebrity news, breaking election news, breaking late news, breaking local news, breaking music news, breaking news, breaking news alerts, breaking news canada, breaking news headlines, breaking news in atlanta, breaking news in nigeria, breaking news india, breaking news pensacola florida, breaking news plane crash, breaking news story, breaking sports news, business expensive news home media world, christian world news, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn money, cnn news, cnn news breaking news, cnn news world, detroit breaking news, global news, headline, headline news, health care technology news, hot latest global news, internet technology news, las vegas breaking news, latest breaking news, latest celebrity news, latest information technology news, latest music news, latest news, latest news headlines, latest news update, latest sports news, live breaking news, local breaking news, local news today, msn breaking news, nbc breaking news, nbc world news, news of the world, news report us world, news today news, news updated daily, solar technology news, sports news today, technology news, the latest news, today news, us news and world, us news and world report, us news and world report magazine, us news and world report web site, us news world report, world news, world news daily, world news headlines