http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/se-asia/story/rocks-tear-gas-fly-thai-protesters-clash-police-bangkok-20131226
Yingluck Shinawatra remains caretaker prime minister after calling a snap election for Feb 2 in an attempt to deflate weeks of mainly peaceful protests that, at their peak, have drawn 200,000 people onto the streets of Bangkok.
The first two years of Ms Yingluck’s government had been relatively smooth, until her party miscalculated in November and tried to push an amnesty bill through parliament that would have allowed her brother to return home a free man.
The protesters draw their strength from Bangkok’s middle class and elite who dismiss Yingluck as a puppet of her self-exiled elder brother, former premier and telecommunications billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin and Ms Yingluck have their power base in the rural north and northeast. Their opponents accuse Thaksin of manipulating the poor in those areas with populist policies such as cheap healthcare and easy credit.
About 500 protesters gathered outside a Bangkok gymnasium early on Thursday where Thailand’s Election Commission is working through the process of registering candidates for the February election.
Police warned the protesters not to try to enter the building and then fired several rounds of teargas when demonstrators tried to break down a fence. The protesters, some of whom had been throwing rocks, soon withdrew from the front of the compound.
Several protesters were affected by teargas but no one was seriously hurt, Reuters witnesses said. The protesters are well prepared for such clashes, the last of which happened about two weeks ago. Many carry goggles and masks to cover their faces and water bottles to wash out their eyes.
The clash came a day after the Thai Cabinet voted to extend the Internal Security Act by another two months.
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