A cabinet meeting was held in Thailand today over tensions that have led to recent violence in the capital, Bangkok.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the meeting dealt with ways coping with ‘terrorists and the security of the monarchy’ and addressing grievances of the ‘red shirts’.
‘We want to solve the problem of poverty and when the prime minister is ready, he will announce the political guidelines to solve the problem of the rallies,’ Mr Panitan said.
The cabinet also allotted an extra 249 million baht (€5.7m) to police and 28 million baht to the Department of Special of Investigation to deal with the protests.
The spokesman’s words struck a different tone to earlier comments from Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The Thai prime minister warned anti-government protesters there was a risk of 'losses' if they did not get out of a Bangkok shopping district they have closed for a month, but the protesters vowed to stay put.
'From now on, what the government will do may risk clashes and losses, but the government knows what it's doing. What needs to be done must be done,' Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a weekly televised address.
It was not clear what he meant by 'losses'.
The so-called red shirt protesters, supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra who are demanding early elections, said they were staying, although they agreed to pull back a barrier around 200 metres to give cars access to a hospital.
