Thailand extends state of emergency
BANGKOK — The Thai government on Tuesday extended for three months a state of emergency in the capital and 18 provinces in the wake of bloody, anti-government demonstrations that pushed the country close to chaos. But the special law was lifted in five provinces.
The Cabinet agreed that there remained “situations that require close monitoring and surveillance” in Bangkok and the 18 provinces – mostly in the northeast, home to many of the so-called Red Shirt demonstrators who descended on Bangkok, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office Ongart Klampaiboon told reporters.
The cabinet resolution challenged a proposal by the key security agency, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, urging that the decree remain in force without exception.
