Thai authorities struggle to end mass protest

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities filed a court order on Monday to disperse tens of thousands of protesters occupying Bangkok's main shopping district, hoping to derail an increasingly bold four-week rally aimed at forcing an election.


A Buddhist monk waves a flag during a rally in the main shopping district of Bangkok April 5, 2010. Thai authorities filed a court order on Monday to disperse tens of thousands of protesters occupying Bangkok's main shopping district, hoping to derail an increasingly bold four-week rally aimed at forcing an election. (REUTERS/Kerek Wongsa)
Despite warnings they could face a year in jail, the red-shirted protesters occupied the area of upscale department stores and luxury hotels for a third day and said they had no plans to leave. Hundreds tore up fliers ordering them to vacate.

Thai stocks, which have climbed 81 percent over the past 12 months, were about 0.5 percent weaker on concerns over the prolonged protest, bucking gains in most other Asian markets. The baht currency eased about 0.2 percent to 32.38 per dollar in thin early trade.

"The impact on retail, hotel and tourism-related sectors seems unavoidable and we should see selling pressure in these sectors," said Chakkrit Charoenmetachai, an analyst with Globlex Securities. Tourism supports about 5 percent of the economy.

Retail and hotel firms fell to three-week lows.

Minor International, Thailand's largest hotelier, lost 0.9 percent, hotelier the Erawan Group which runs a Grand Hyatt franchise, fell 2.5 percent and Central Plaza Hotel dropped 1.9 percent. All four have properties near the protest sites.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called the rally unlawful, but there has been no sign security forces would disperse the mostly rural and working class "red shirts", who say they will not leave until parliament is dissolved.

The government filed a court order on Monday to disperse the crowd and planned to file another to arrest leaders of the rally, which it says violates Thailand's tough Internal Security Act imposed last month to maintain order during the protests.

But the protesters remained defiant. "We won't leave. We have sent our lawyer to the court and will submit an objection immediately if the court issues any order to force us to leave," said Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader.

The "red shirts", supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have hinted they may expand their rally to other areas of the city. They now occupy two areas: the shopping district and Phan Fah Bridge in Bangkok's old quarter.

Ten trucks of "red shirts" briefly gathered in the Silom banking and tourist district before moving to the Election Commission to voice complaints over they see as bias.

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Backed by Thailand's powerful military and royalist establishment, Abhisit said holding a peaceful poll now would be difficult, given the tensions, and he repeated his offer to dissolve parliament in December, a year early.

Analysts say Abhisit would probably lose an election if it were held now, raising investment risks in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy following a $1.6 billion surge of foreign investment in Thai stocks over the past five weeks on expectations he would survive the showdown.

Economists also caution that continued political turmoil could hit confidence and investment, and might force the central bank to delay an expected interest rate rise.

Raising fears of a blow to retail business, Central World, the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia, and half a dozen other big malls remained shuttered for a second day.

Central World usually attracts 150,000 people a day and generates 45 percent of the earnings of its parent, Central Pattana Pcl, Thailand's top department store operator.

The "red shirts" say Abhisit has no popular mandate and came to power illegitimately, heading a coalition the military cobbled together after courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin party that led the previous government. Abhisit says he was voted into office by the same parliament that picked his Thaksin-allied predecessors.

At the centre of the impasse is Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon seen by opponents as authoritarian and corrupt before he was ousted in a 2006 coup but a rallying symbol for the poor as the first Thai civilian leader to embrace rural voters in his 2001 election win.

Some fear a rippling impact on tourism ahead of Thailand's April 13-15 Songkran holidays. "This has affected the normal way of life," said Apichart Singka-aree, director and former president of the private Association of Thai Travel Agents.

"Out of some 100 previously booked flights for Chinese tourists to fly in for the Songkran festival, over 60 have been cancelled. We are trying to save the remaining 30-something flights," he told Reuters.