The final shutdown


Rally leader Suthep Thuagsuban says he wants scenes like this repeated throughout the city on election day, although obviously on a smaller scale. PATIPAT JANTHONG PDRC calls ‘biggest rally’ to derail poll

By Terry Fredrickson

PDRC Rally leader calls for daily marches and a final "biggest rally" on election day that will 'completely shut down" Bangkok.

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Suthep promises not to block public from voting

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PDRC protesters have been told to stay in the streets, blocking traffic but not voters. PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

The People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) has called its ‘‘biggest’’ rally in another effort to thwart Sunday’s election.

The rally will ‘‘completely shut down’’ Bangkok, PDRC leader Suthep Thaugsuban said as he announced the plan yesterday at Pathumwan rally stage.

He called on people who disagree with the election to join the rally and turn city streets into walking streets.

Unlike its polling stations blockade during advance voting last Sunday, Mr Suthep said the PDRC would not prevent people from voting this Sunday.

However, he called on PDRC supporters to rally on every street and park their cars on roads on polling day.

‘‘Those who want to vote and become a servant of the Thaksin regime, just do it, but we won’t’’ he said.

By Thaksin regime, Mr Suthep was referring to the influence of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra on Thai politics.

The fresh rally to protest against the election will start today and continue through Sunday, Mr Suthep said.

Protesters from all the PDRC and its allies’ rally stages are to join the rally.

The rally will start today at Soi On Nut, moving along Sukhumvit Road to Asok to urge Bangkokians and state officials to join the PDRC protests and not go and vote. The march tomorrow will be along Lat Phrao Road, starting from the Lat Phrao rally site.

On Saturday, the protesters will wear red and march to Yaowarat to celebrate Chinese New Year, he said.

‘‘We want to announce to the international community that we do not reject democracy but reject fake democracy. We are calling for reform of the country before an election,’’ he said.

He said there is no need to worry about losing voting rights for not casting ballots because the election would definitely be nullified later.

According to Mr Suthep, several provinces in the South will have no ballot papers for Sunday’s election along with insufficient poll officials.

Caretaker prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday pleaded with the anti-government protesters not to block others from casting their ballots.

She made the plea after being asked what she would do if she were blocked from casting her vote on Sunday.

EC member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn insisted yesterday the EC will be unable to announce the results after voting closes on Sunday.

He said the EC will have to reschedule voting for some two million voters who could not cast their ballots in advance voting last Sunday due to antigovernment protests. Fresh voting is likely to take place in late February.

According to Mr Somchai, the result of the party-list system election cannot be announced if a single polling unit out of 99,000 across the country is disrupted.

‘‘It will take at least three to four months. I can’t say how long because it depends on the situation,’’ he said.

He said the EC will try not to seek more money to fund the election and re-elections.

As for the delay in delivery of ballot papers in the upper South he said that the EC has agreed to relax a regulation to make sure that ballot papers can be delivered to polling units in time.

He added that after waiving the regulation requiring the ballot papers to be stamped with the EC logo, ballot papers are expected to be delivered to polling stations by Saturday.

Anti-government protesters have blocked a postal centre in Chumphon, preventing the distribution of ballot papers to five provinces: Chumphon, Surat Thani, Ranong, Phangnga and Phuket.

About 500 protesters yesterday surrounded a postal centre in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Thung Song district after learning that authorities were preparing to deliver ballot papers to polling units in the province, in Trang, and in Phatthalung.

According to the protesters, the blockade would remain in place until voting ends on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the army has decided not to allow the EC to use army areas as polling stations, said Col Winthai Suwaree, deputy army spokesman.

Still, the army is willing to help maintain security and peace at polling stations.

An army source said army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered army personnel to go and vote to preserve their political rights.

Vocabulary

    advance: before the time that is expected; before something happens - ล่วงหน้า
    allow: to let somebody/something do something; to let something happen or be done - อนุญาต, ยอมรับ
    authority: a person who has the power to make decisions or enforce the law - เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
    ballot: the piece of paper on which someone marks who they are voting for - บัตรเลือกตั้ง
    block: to stop someone/ something from moving through or along something else - ปิดกั้น, กีดขวาง
    blockade: an action that is intended to prevent people or goods from moving from one place to another - การกีดขวาง; การกีดขวางการจราจร
    caretaker: in charge for a short time, until a new leader or government is chosen - รักษาการ
    cast a ballot: to vote, i.e., to put a marked ballot in a ballot box - ลงคะแนน, หย่อนบัตรเลือกตั้ง, ออกเสียงเลือกตั้ง
    community: a group of people who share the same job, interests, religion, etc - สังคม
    definitely: without any doubt; for certain - อย่างแน่นอน
    delay: causing to happen at a later time; happening at a later time than expected - การเลื่อน, ช้ากว่าปกติ
    depend on: according to; affected by things that happen - ขึ้นอยู่กับ
    deputy: a person whose rank is immediately below that of the leader of an organisation - รอง
    disrupt: to prevent something from continuing as usual or as expected - ทำให้เสียกระบวน, ทำให้เสียระบบ, ทำให้สับสน
    distribution: the process of giving something out to many different places - การแจกจ่าย
    due to: because of - เนื่องจาก
    effort: an attempt to do something - ความพยายาม
    fake: made to look like something real to trick people - ปลอม
    fresh: new; made or experienced recently - ใหม่, เมื่อเร็วๆนี้, สดๆ ร้อนๆ
    influence: the power to have an effect on people or things - อิทธิพล
    insist: to keep saying very firmly that something is true - ยืนกราน ยืนยัน
    insufficient: not enough - ไม่เพียงพอ
    logo: a printed design or symbol that a company or an organization uses as its special sign - โลโก้, เครื่องหมาย
    maintain: to keep - รักษา
    meanwhile: at the same time - ในเวลาเดียวกัน
    nullify: to make a legal agreement or decision have no legal force - ทำให้โมฆะ, ทำให้ไร้ผล
    obviously: clearly - เห็นได้ชัด, อย่างชัดแจ้ง
    ousted: forced out of a position of power - ที่ถูกขับออกจากตำแหน่ง
    party-list: a system that gives each party in an election a number of seats in relation to the number of votes its candidates receive - ระบบสัดส่วน, ระบบปาร์ตี้ลิสต์
    PDRC: People's Democratic Reform Committee, an anti-government protest group, headed by Suthep Thuagsuban - กปปส. คณะกรรมการประชาชนเพื่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงประเทศไทยให้เป็นประชาธิปไตยที่สมบูรณ์ อันมีพระมหากษัตริย์ทรงเป็นประมุข.
    personnel: the people who are employed in a company, organization or one of the armed forces - บุคลากร, เจ้าหน้าที่, พนักงาน
    plea: an urgent and emotional request - คำร้อง, คำขอ, คำขอร้อง, คำวิงวอน
    plead: to ask for something in an emotional way - ขอร้อง, วิงวอน
    poll: an election - การเลือกตั้ง
    polling day: election day -
    polling station: the place where people vote in an election - หน่วยเลือกตั้ง
    polling unit: polling station; the place where people vote in an election - หน่วยเลือกตั้ง
    preserve: to keep something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from being damaged or destroyed - ทำให้คงอยู่, สงวน
    protest: a meeting or rally, sometimes forceful or violent, of people who strongly disagree with something - ชุมนุมประท้วง
    public: the public; all people; the people in general - มหาชน, ประชาชน
    rally: a large public gathering of people to support someone or to protest against something - การชุมนุม
    rally: to join a public meeting that a lot of people go to in order to support someone or protest against someone or something - ชุมนุม
    reform: a change that is intended to correct a situation that is wrong or unfair - การแก้ไข การปฏิรูป
    regime: a government that controls a country, especially in a strict or unfair way - รัฐบาลที่ขึ้นมาปกครองโดยการยึดอำนาจ
    regulation: an official rule that controls the way that things are done - กฎระเบียบ
    reject: to not agree with - ปฏิเสธ ไม่ยอมรับ
    relax: to make rules, controls, conditions etc less strict -
    reschedule: to change the time at which something has been arranged to happen, especially so that it takes place later - จัดตารางเวลาใหม่, เปลี่ยนตารางใหม่
    right: a moral or legal claim to have or get something or to behave in a particular - สิทธิ
    scale: the size or extent of something, especially when compared with something else - ขนาด, ระดับ
    security: protection; systems providing for safety from attack, harm, or damage - ระบบรักษาความปลอดภัย
    servant: a person who works in another person's house, and cooks, cleans, etc. for them - คนรับใช้
    situation: all the circumstances and things that are happening at a particular time and in a particular place - สถานการณ์
    source: someone who gives information - แหล่งข่าว
    stage: a raised area, usually in a theatre, etc. where actors, dancers, speakers etc. perform - เวที
    state: government - รัฐบาล
    surround: to be everywhere around someone/something; encircle - ล้อมรอบ
    thwart: to prevent someone from doing something that they want to do - สกัดกั้น ป้องกัน
    urge: to advise someone very strongly about what action or attitude they should take - ผลักดัน, กระตุ้น
    waive: to officially ignore a rule, right, or claim - ปลด

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