Boonjong cuts short trip

Deputy Interior Minister Boonjong Wongtrairat yesterday took one look at the red-shirt rally waiting for him and cut short his official visit to Sakhon Nakhon's Akat Amnuay district.

Boonjong arrived by helicopter to hand out 1,000 blankets to 94 villagers suffering from the cold wave.

As soon as he stepped down, more than 300 anti-government protesters ran up to him, shouting at him to leave while condemning the Abhisit government for lacking legitimacy.

MP Jumpol Bunyai rushed Boonjong into a van to drop him off at the district hall 300 metres away. The red shirts tried to break the cordon formed by more than 300 police and security officers. They threw shoes and yelled at Boonjong.

When Boonjong reached district hall, he told the local officials to call off the blanket presentation ceremony as it was interrupted by noise from the protesters' loudspeakers. It looked like the red shirts were trying to break into the building where the ceremony was to be held.

He told the village chiefs to give the blankets to villagers and left 10 minutes after he arrived.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva denied reports that he had donned a bullet-proof vest while performing official business on Saturday, saying he wore only a T-shirt and singlet.

He insisted that if reporters had asked him, he would have proven that he was not using body armour.

"The report was funny. I wore a very thin shirt. Maybe I have put on weight," he said.

Acting government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said Abhisit did not wear soft protective clothing even though there had been reports of a possible assassination attempt. His security guards also insisted he did not wear such a thing.

Panithan said the Cabinet tomorrow would consider lifting the Internal Security Act after the Internal Security Operations Command evaluates the situation and gives its recommendation.

The government could not rule out the possibility that the red shirts would seize the opportunity to stage their mass rally if the security law was revoked, he said.

The Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship had deferred their planned protest because the leaders were split on whether to call it before December 5, since it was close to His Majesty the King's birthday.

The DAAD leaders have been trying to hold a top-level meeting. If they finally become united, they would likely agree to go ahead with staging their mass rally against the government, he added.