Thailand drops treason charges against nine

Anti-government protesters listened to one of their leaders yesterday at Government House in Bangkok. (wason wanichakorn/Associated Press)

BANGKOK - In a victory for antigovernment demonstrators, a Thai appeals court yesterday dropped charges of treason against nine protest leaders, calling evidence against them too "vague."

The court upheld a charge of inciting unrest relating to the thousands of demonstrators who have barricaded themselves into the compound of the prime minister's office for the past six weeks.

In a separate ruling, a criminal court yesterday allowed bail for the top leader of the protest, Chamlong Srimuang, 73, a former army general who was arrested Sunday. He arrived at the protest site yesterday to loud cheers.

In a bizarre twist to the standoff with the government, which is showing no signs of abating, the other protest leaders said they would turn themselves in to the police, but, like Chamlong, would request bail and continue their protests once, and if, they are released.

"We will still fight on," said Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the leaders sought by the police. "We have the right to protest and we will not leave Government House," he said, referring to the prime minister's office. "We will wait for the crackdown."

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is temporarily operating out of the VIP lounge of Bangkok's old international airport. The well-provisioned protesters, many of them from Thailand's middle class, have largely retreated to the prime minister's compound after having surrounded Parliament on Tuesday, trapping hundreds of government lawmakers inside.

Police cleared a path for the members of Parliament to escape but during skirmishes with protesters at least one person was killed and 469 people wounded, 86 of whom were still hospitalized yesterday. Among the wounded are 20 police officers.

The police have traded recriminations with protesters over the cause of the death and several serious injuries. Thai media reported that two people had lost their eyesight and one person remains in a coma.

The police say they used only tear gas to disperse the crowds. The protesters have accused them of wielding other weapons. Many of the protesters themselves were armed with knives and clubs and two police officers were shot.

Reaction to the violence Tuesday has underlined the extent of political polarization in Thailand. Doctors at a leading hospital in Bangkok initially said they would refuse to treat wounded police officers as a show of their displeasure toward what they said was an overly violent confrontation with the protesters.

The doctors were overruled by their superiors, but yesterday hundreds of doctors and nurses, dressed in black, marched to the national police headquarters demanding that the government step down.

On Wednesday, a pilot for the national airline, Thai Airways, refused to let three members of Parliament board a flight because they belong to the governing party. The airline suspended the pilot.