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Hermanolobo
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500 foreign activists blacklisted by Thai Immigration
APEC SECURITY: No visas for 500 foreign activists
BANGKOK: Some 500 foreign activists from 100 countries will be blacklisted for entry into the country in the run-up to and during the Apec summit later this month, a source said yesterday.
A circular has been sent to all Thai embassies and consulates instructing them not to issue entry visas to the activists until the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Summit, the source said.
Immigration Bureau chief Lt-General Chanwut Watcharapuk said yesterday that a blacklist was being compiled for foreign activists affiliated with "problematic" NGOs. These people would be barred from entering the country during the summit, he said.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said many times that he would not allow Thailand to be used by foreigners to stage their campaigns against other countries.
Meanwhile, local activist groups agreed yesterday to hold a street rally in central Bangkok this weekend against the summit, their leaders said.
Demonstrators will march from the World Trade Centre to the Pathumwan intersection in central Bangkok, said Suwit Watnoo, an adviser to the Campaign for Popular Democracy.
He added that this was the route used by anti-war activists in the late 1970s for street protests against American military bases in Thailand.
Massive protests forced the government at the time to push for a pullout of the bases.
"We have no intention of creating confusion or pressuring the government. We just want to call for the benefits that the Thai public deserve from this Apec meeting," Suwit told a press conference at the Foundation of Volunteers for Society yesterday.
He said that 10 non-governmental organisations, which |form the Network of Globalised Civil Groups for Peace, would take part in the rally and other activities.
A seminar and exhibition would be held at the Royal Hotel at Sanam Luang on Saturday with the street march on Sunday, he said.
Barung Kayotha, another leading activist, said the government should not try to prevent such a peaceful rally, which is allowed under the Constitution.
He was referring to a recent remark by Thaksin that street protests during the Apec Summit would damage the country's reputation and complicate safety for the participants.
In a related development, Nakhon Sriwipat, a leader of the Council of Northeastern Small-scale Farmers, said that some 20,000 poor farmers from all over the country would start camping out in Bangkok on Tuesday and would stay until the summit begins the following Monday if their demands were not met.
Source: The Nation
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Posted on: 6:14 am on Oct. 10, 2003
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