New law on street protests must be evenhanded

Some may assume that the plan was to take her mum to a hospital for a health checkup, one of the most popular activities for the provincial welltodo in the capital city.

Yes, she had to take her mother somewhere, but not to a hospital. Her destination was the Makawan Rangsan bridge where People's Alliance for Democracy supporters have been camping. Her mother said she wanted to be there to collect a memorable coin, handed out for free. However, given that Friday was August 1, when the PAD was sched¬uled to stage a big rally against the government's planned motion for Constitutional amendments, to the daughter the visit seemed like a frightening prospect.

Luckily no violence followed, but the gathering of mass crowds on the day must have inspired Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to move to amend the Constitution's Article 63 that deals with public demonstra¬tions.

Coincidentally - at least this is what people in the People Power Party which leads the coalition gov¬ernment said - Samak made the move at the same time as the party's MPs suggested a bill to handle demonstrations. Coincidence or not, in principle, the legal changes would empower the authorities to disperse demonstrators.

Somehow, it makes sense. Commuters and others should know in advance on which street a demon¬stration will be taking place so that they could avoid those areas. People living nearby could also be warned in advance about the scale of any planned demonstration and its likely effects.

I love the idea that demonstrators inform a government unit before any planned rally, so that police could clear traffic and responsible authori¬ties could inform the public in advance. However the MPs' sugges¬tion that a committee be set up to approve any demonstration seems outrageous. Approval seems unnec¬essary if we consider that expression of displeasure from any group is a constitutional right.

For better demonstration manage¬ment, I propose the Transport Ministry build a special road where demonstrations of any kind could take place. If two rallies are planned at the same time, let them take place on the same road. Or if confrontation is to be avoided, each could take turns to stage their rallies at different times.

I certainly believe that if the rule is clear and if all are treated equally nobody would complain, including those from the provinces like my col¬league's mother. At least there would be a venue for them to express their displeasure and demands.