PM lifts Internal Security Act in three Bangkok districts

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday signed an order to lift the Internal Security Act (ISA) enforced in three Bangkok districts, the government spokesman said.

Government spokesman Tossaporn Serirak said that the ISA would be lifted with immediate effect in Phra Nakhon, Pom Prab and Dusit districts. The ISA had been enforced in the areas ahead of a mass rally held by the Pitak Siam group led by General Boonlert Kaewprasit.

Meanwhile, Boonlert denied yesterday that he had been paid by former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to bring the rally to an abrupt end on Saturday. He added that Thaksin did once offer him the post of defence minister under Samak Sundara-vej's government, but he rejected it.

Boonlert said he chose to call off the rally because police managed to block people heading in from the provinces from joining the rally, adding that he did not want to see anybody killed or injured. He said the police bureau had started blocking roads and firing tear gas at demonstrators without any warning.

"At 4pm [on Saturday], someone suggested that I get protesters to break down the police barricades so the rally could be extended to Phan Fah Bridge. However, I disagreed because if we continued fighting, more people would get injured," he said.

He added that he had not received any phone calls pressuring him to end the rally, but that he did it out of concern.

Boonlert said he would continue his work as leader of the Pitak Siam group and would continue helping people affected by the rallies. He added that he would hold more rallies if the monarchy was attacked again.

The general also said he had decided to step down as president of the Alumni Foundation for the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School because some military officers, who had graduated from this school, refused to help protect the people. Some of the police officers who took action against the demonstrators had also graduated from this school, he said.

Separately, General Pathompong Kesornsuk, a key member of the Pitak Siam group, said the police broke the promise they made to rally organisers and blocked people from getting to the rally site. He said he accepted Boonlert's decision to protect people from getting hurt.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/11/27/pm-lifts-internal-security-act-in-three-bangkok-districts/