Police will today seek a court order to evict the red shirts from Rajprasong Intersection, Bangkok's central shopping and tourism hub, after rally organisers refused to voluntarily return to their main rally site at Phan Fa Bridge, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday.
"The Rajprasong rally is not a political demonstration but an intimidation designed to destroy the economy," he said.
The red shirts chose to ignore a warning issued by the Peace-keeping Operations Command in order to inflict untold damage on commerce and disrupt people's livelihood.
The Deputy PM reminded the red shirts that the authori-ties would step up legal meas-ures if they continued to act in defiance of the law.
He said under no circum-stances would the red shirts be allowed to expand their camp in the central business district, such as Silom Road.
After receiving the eviction order, the riot force would increase security measures short of relying on violence to force the red shirts out of Rajprasong, he added.
After lengthy talks late on Saturday, the red shirts agreed to open a traffic lane, but this was not good enough to restore normalcy, he said. The bottom line was the reds must return to their rally site.
After legal moves, they would decide on the next step, including the possible imposi-tion of emergency rule. He also said ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra was trying to inflame the situation via his nightly video talks.
