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BANGKOK - Thailand's government Tuesday agreed to impose a tough security law ahead of protests this weekend, vowing to use "all means" to stop violence by backers of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The Internal Security Act allows authorities to deploy troops on the streets during mass anti-government rallies in Bangkok by the so-called "Red Shirts" and also to impose curfews and ban gatherings.
Under the law, to be in force between March 11 and 23, the government also banned farm vehicles from the capital in an apparent bid to block the movement of protesters from Thaksin's heartland in the rural north.
"The Cabinet has approved the imposition of the Internal Security Act and the prime minister has assigned each ministry certain responsibilities," said Satit Wongnongtaey, a minister attached to Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva's office.
Organisers say they expect up to 600,000 Red Shirts to start gathering in Bangkok from Friday for the main day of protests on Sunday against a court ruling last month that confiscated 1.4 billion US dollars of Thaksin's fortune.
The government predicts that around 100,000 protesters will gather.
Security officials said at least 30,000 troops and police would be deployed or on standby along with thousands more civilian security volunteers, although final numbers had yet to be determined.
The government has also prepared safe houses for senior figures.
The country remains deeply divided between supporters of the populist Thaksin, who was deposed in a military coup in 2006, and those among the Bangkok-based elites who view him as corrupt.
Satit said the transport ministry would ban improvised farm trucks -- open-sided vehicles that drive on tractor engines -- from entering Bangkok as they could be used to ferry large numbers of protesters from the countryside.
Thaksin, who made his fortune in telecommunications, has been egging on his supporters from self-imposed exile in Dubai, where he is living to avoid a jail term for graft.
Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij on Monday said the government would take all means within the law to prevent violence.
Korn said Abhisit respected the right to peaceful protest but added that the government also fully intended to "use all means within its powers, within the laws of the country, to make sure that the property and safety of its citizens are protected".
On Monday Abhisit briefed Thailand's revered king, who has been hospitalised for the past five months, on the weekend's planned rallies, dubbed "The Red March" by local media.
Any migrant workers attending the rallies would meanwhile be subject to a five-year jail term and fines of up to 100,000 baht (3,100 US dollars), Labour Minister Phaitoon Kaeothong said.
Thailand's economy relies on workers from its poorer neighbours Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, but in recent months the country has become tougher on immigration and has been accused of widespread mistreatment of migrants.
Senior Reds insist they will protest peacefully, but it promises to be the biggest rally since last April, when up to 100,000 Red Shirts derailed a major Asian summit and ensuing riots left two people dead.
The Philippines on Tuesday advised its citizens to avoid travelling to Thailand ahead of the protests.
"Filipinos are advised to postpone all non-essential travel to Thailand, specifically Bangkok," the foreign office said, adding that those in Bangkok had been advised to avoid potential flashpoints and protest spots.
- AFP/ir
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