The Metropolitan Police Bureau yesterday calculated its "191" hotline had received almost 180,000 calls -or 8,418 per day - during the past 21 days of the redshirt protest. Calls reporting bombs and suspicious objects were as high as 91 a day.
An informed source reported that peacekeeping operations between March 11 till March 31 topped the record for incoming calls to the emergency hotline during the redshirt protests at Phan Fa Bridge and Rajdamnoen Road
During those 21 days of protest peacekeeping operations, the Bureau received 176,790 calls, reporting incidents including discoveries of suspicious objects around Bangkok.
Reasons for the emergency calls were divided into four categories: emergency and accidents - 24,836 calls, an average of 1,182 per day; bombs or suspicious objects, 91 calls or 45 a day; finding suspicious materials, 78 calls; finding a bomb, 1 call; reporting bombing incidents, 10 calls; bomb threats, 2 calls.
In addition there were the general calls: asking for information - 107,497 calls or 5118 per day; nonrelated incidents, 44,457 calls or 2117 per day; hoax or mischievous calls, 13,861, or 660 per day; lines cut or hang up calls, 1,456 times per day.
