PM harassed, heckled at ICT
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
UNION PROTEST
PM harassed, heckled at ICT
KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA
Bangkok Post
Thursday October 23, 2008
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was harassed and booed during a visit to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry yesterday.
He was there to urge the ministry to tackle websites with content deemed to be insulting to the monarchy.
But about 400 protesters, made up of members of TOT Plc’s union and management staff, wearing yellow shirts and armed with plastic hand clappers gathered in front of the TOT headquarters to greet the prime minister’s convoy.
As the convoy arrived, unionists and senior management staff shook the hand clappers and shouted, “Somchai the murderer is not welcome. You kill the people.”
Taken by surprise by the protest, the convoy drove to the building’s underground car park and entered via an elevator instead of going through the main entrance.
But before the prime minister could get into the elevator, a group of unionists approached him and chanted: “You kill the people.”
However, Mr Somchai remained calm, shaking hands with some protesters and greeting others with a wai.
He chaired a meeting with ICT Minister Mun Patanotai to discuss the ministry’s policies, particularly on websites that insult the monarchy.
Mr Somchai said such websites hurt the hearts of Thais, which his government could not accept. He promised to tackle the problem in the next few days.
After the meeting, he lunched with ICT senior officials while his guards contacted the union to ask for clearance for Mr Somchai’s convoy to leave. However, the unionists refused, stranding the three-vehicle convoy in the car park.
The prime minister and ICT minister were again forced to take the elevator when leaving, but as they emerged they were confronted with protests once more.
A brief scuffle broke out between the prime minister’s guards and a group of union members. Mt Somchai managed to get into a van thanks to the help of about 30 police who surrounded him.
The unionists continued to shout and boo and a shoe was hurled against the side of the van as it drove away.
The prime minister said later that he was not frightened by the protest but he felt the protesters went too far by throwing things, adding that one member of his entourage had been injured.
“I don’t think I have lost face because of the incident. The ones who lost face are those who did wrong. I’m not discouraged and I have forgiven them,” Mr Somchai said.
TOT president Warut Suvakorn said the union was unlikely to take action against its members who were involved in the protest because they had the right to express their views.
