State of Emergency laws to be lifted?

Today, Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand’s deputy prime minister, said that some areas of the country may be taken off the State of Emergency list.

He added that the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) was convening tonight to decide what action should be taken. The government cabinet meeting tomorrow will act on CRES’s recommendations.

The State of Emergency was declared in Bangkok on April 7. The laws were later enacted in 23 Thai provinces. The State of Emergency was brought in by the government to try and curb the anti-government Red Shirts, or United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, protests and movements.

The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that the International Crisis Group, an independent think-tank, thought the emergency laws should be lifted. The panel said the police had gained too much power and free speech was being stifled.

In a development that may influence CRES, the two alleged masterminds of the June 22 Bhum Jai Thai headquarters bombing in Bangkok were repatriated to Thailand this morning.

Cambodian authorities detained Kobchai Boonplod, 41, and 42-year-old Warisaya Boonsom in Seam Reap on Saturday. The duo were then handed over to officials at Phnom Penh’s Thai Embassy. Embassy staff placed them on a Bangkok bound plane today.

At Suvarnabhumi Airport, Police Lieutenant-General Aswin Kwanmuang took charge of the pair. The officer said Thai police would conduct preliminary questioning, after which Mr Kobchai and Ms Warisaya would be given to the Department of Special Investigation.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister, thanked the Cambodian government for returning the two suspects.