Rock thrower arrested

Chokchai Khamleu, who is from Nakhon Phanom, admit?ted he was one of the culprits captured in photos of the drama. He said he threw rocks at the MPs' cars out of impul?sive anger and a desire to take revenge for what the "bullies" had done to "his beloved [People Power] government", as he could not accept the Democrats' government.

He said he was not hired by anyone to join the rally but had joined most demonstrations by the red-shirt group.

Chokchai, who works in a factory in Samut Prakan, was one of six people sought by police for throwing rocks at MPs' cars. A Bangkok court issued arrest warrants for the six after they were identified from photos and video com?mitting offences after MPs voted for a new PM on Monday.

The six will face a charge of gathering in a group of more than 10 persons to assault peo?ple or create chaos. A conviction for assault could end with a two-year jail term and/or a fine of up to Bt4,000. A conviction for damaging property could result in up to three years in jail and/or a fine of Bt6,000, while the charge of illegal detention is punishable by up to five years in jail and/or a fine of up to Bt10,000.

Meanwhile, police chiefs met yesterday to discuss crowd control tactics for another rally next week. Some 30,000 red-shirt protesters are expected to rally at Parliament on Tuesday (Dec 23) ahead of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's announcement of his government's policies on Friday.

Acting metropolitan police chief Pol Maj Gen Ekkarat Meepreecha said a police crowd control rehearsal on Wednesday was not satisfacto?ry and officers needed more practice so each police unit's function would be detailed. Ekkarat said he would also propose that metropolitan police deploy officers to guard each MP.