PM: No plan to re-impose emergency decree in Chiang Mai

BANGKOK, Sept 11 -- Two days after a grenade attack on a army camp in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there is still no plan for his government to re-impose an emergency decree in that province.

Mr Abhisit said security agencies are closely monitoring Thursday's grenade incident at the army camp while the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) would consider whether to re-impose the decree in Chiang Mai and then send its decision to the government.

The emergency decree was imposed in Chiang Mai during the political tensions caused by the anti-government movement of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) in early April. The decree in the province was lifted on August 16.

The northern province of Chiang Mai is the birthplace of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a stronghold of the UDD or Red Shirt movement.

Five grenades from an M79 launcher were fired into Khun Nen army camp in Chiang Mai’s Mae Rim district Thursday night but only four exploded, and those were on the lawn of the facility. No casualties were reported.

So far, the government has no plan to re-impose the decree in the province, Mr Abhisit said.

Regarding the UDD protesters plan to hold several activities marking the fourth anniversary of the bloodless coup which topped the government of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on September 19, 2006; Mr Abhisit said his government would watch to make sure that their movements are conducted within the law and do not cause troublesome to the public.

If their activities are just symbolic and are peaceful, then there should not be any problem, Mr Abhisit said.

Those non-violence protesters must be separated from violent-loving ones so that officials could deal with them, he added. (MCOT online news)