Thai police step aside, move to defuse anti-government protests

    
Thai police said on Tuesday they would not stand in the way of protesters battling to seize the prime minister’s office and city police headquarters, focal points of demonstrations aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

A Reuters witness said police were clearing barbed-wire barricades from outside the police headquarters. Television pictures showed protesters and police officers mingling outside the building and Government House, where Yingluck’s office is.

The protests have brought clouds of teargas, rubber bullets and intermittent gunfire to parts of Bangkok, the latest turmoil in the struggle between the Bangkok-based establishment and forces loyal to Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban vilified the police in a speech to cheering supporters late on Monday and said the protesters would capture their city headquarters on Tuesday.

But, in a move to defuse the confrontation, city police chief Kamronvit Thoopkrachang said his men would not fight the protesters.


Reuters