BANGKOK, Nov 7 — A convoy of protesters demanding cheaper diesel is rolling towards the Thai capital, even as police ban gatherings outside Government House, the Thai prime minister’s office complex in Bangkok.
Led by Mano Khrueakaew, a subdistrict headman, or kamnan, from Krabi Noi in southern Krabi province, the group plans to arrive on Sunday evening, November 8, to demand a cut of 10 baht (RM1.22) a litre in diesel prices, news outlet The Thaiger reported today.
Mano’s group, the People’s Revolution Alliance to Protect the Land, set off from Nakhon Si Thammarat on the morning of November 5, according to The Thaiger, and spent the night in Surat Thani.
By about 4pm yesterday, the convoy had reached the Pathomphon intersection on Phetkasem Road in Chumphon, where supporters waiting since late morning slowed traffic.
Speaking in Chumphon, Mano said the convoy was heading for Gate 4 of Government House.
He also said the group would press the government over drug problems that he claimed had spread to every area, another news outlet Daily News reported.
Mano told Daily News the protesters would stay put if the diesel cut was not made.
His speech in Chumphon was short because a rally planned at Khao Phang, the first stop on the original schedule, was cancelled.
He said four people had warned him about his safety, so he moved the evening rally to a temple just across the provincial border in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The convoy planned to spend the night at Wat Nam Tok Khao Pho Thong in Bang Saphan Noi district, before the final leg to Bangkok.
Residents along the route chipped in money towards the convoy’s travel costs and complained about the cost of living, The Thaiger reported.
Some said the fuel needed just to get to work was eating up their income.
Prayoon Changjai, who owns a large fish pier in Pathio district and runs boats on fuel, told reporters coconuts had sold for about 2 baht (RM0.24) each for nearly 30 years and were still hard to sell, The Thaiger reported.
She said fuel and other costs kept climbing even as fuel prices abroad fell, and that the prime minister should step down if he could not fix the problem.
Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner, Police Lieutenant General Siam Boonsom, has banned public gatherings within 50 metres of Government House until midnight on November 20.
The order cites risks to traffic, access to Government House and public safety, and names the alliance’s planned rally as the reason, according to the report.
MGR Online’s report on the order mentioned no road closures.
It is not clear how many vehicles will reach Bangkok, as the group had aimed for 1,000 cars and trucks.
The Thai Examiner reported that Mano admitted turnout was below that target.
The government has issued no public statement on the 10-baht (RM1.22) demand as of the time of publishing, according to The Thaiger.
PTT, Thailand’s state-controlled oil and gas company, sold regular diesel at 41.79 baht (RM5.10) a litre and B20 diesel, a blend with 20 per cent biodiesel, at 33.50 baht (RM4.09) a litre on November 7, according to a daily price list published by Thairath, a leading Thai newspaper, that excludes local taxes.
Since November 1, the Oil Fuel Fund, a government-run fund that cushions fuel prices, has paid a subsidy of 3.90 baht (RM0.48) a litre on regular diesel and 5.82 baht (RM0.71) on B20, under new rates set at the end of October, The Thaiger reported.
