Thailand Unrest

• Thai Junta Says Peace in Restive South a National Priority

  Thailand's military government said on Monday peace in the Muslim-dominated south was an "urgent national priority" for the Buddhist-majority country following a decade of unrest blamed on separatists.

• Thai Junta Compares its Intervention to Myanmar's 1988 Crackdown

  Thailand's military on Friday compared its seizure of power in May to restore stability after months of unrest to the brutal crackdown by Myanmar's former junta in 1988 to snuff out a pro-democracy movement.

• Thai Forces out to Stifle Unrest After Army Chief Sets Election Plan

  Thai police and soldiers flooded downtown Bangkok on Saturday to pre-empt further protests against a May 22 coup after the army chief said a return to democracy would take more than a year.

• Thailand Soldiers Detain Ex-Minister as He Emerges From Hiding to Decry Coup

  Thailand soldiers burst into a journalists' club in Bangkok on Tuesday and detained a former minister in the government deposed by the army last week after he had denounced the coup as a disaster.

• Coup Crisis Could Cost Thailand its Medical Tourism Crown

  Thailand is in danger of losing its crown as the world's top destination for medical tourism if foreigners looking for low-cost, quality healthcare are scared off by political unrest, especially at a time of growing competition from Asian rivals.

• Twin Blasts Rock Largest City in Thai South

  At least six people were wounded in twin blasts in southern Thailand's main commercial city of Hat Yai -- the gateway to the kingdom's insurgency-stricken deep south, authorities said Tuesday.

• Thai PM leaves Bangkok as bombs, gunfire punctuate unrest

  Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the target of anti-government protesters who have blocked parts of Bangkok for weeks, has left the capital and is staying 150 km (90 miles) away, her office said on Monday, without specifying the location.

• US deeply troubled by violence in Thailand

  Expressing concern at the ongoing political unrest in Thailand, the United State has said it is deeply troubled by efforts to block polls and otherwise prevent voting and urged all sides to refrain from violence.

• Thai government considers state of emergency after weekend violence

  Thai authorities are "very seriously" considering a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the capital where protesters have been trying for more than two months to bring down the government, the security chief said on Monday.

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  ROC cancelled

  Race of Champions 2014, which was to be held on December 14-15 at Thailand was cancelled on account of political unrest in the Thai capital of Bangkok.

• Bangkok braces for political street protests on possible pardon to ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

  The Thai capital is bracing for possible unrest this week, with street protests expected over moves in parliament that could eventually lead to a pardon for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

• Thailand, Muslim militants agree to peace talks

  Thai authorities and Muslim militant leaders based in neighboring Malaysia agreed on Thursday to hold talks to help ease nearly a decade of unrest in southern Thailand.

• Thai police fire tear gas at political rally

  Thai police on Saturday used tear gas at an anti-government protest in the capital Bangkok, the scene of several outbreaks of violent unrest in recent years.

• Firing at Bangkok temple, 9 killed

  Nine people were killed in clashes at a temple declared a "safe zone" within a Thai anti- government rally site which was shut down in a military offensive, police said on Thursday."Doctors and medical workers who went to the scene said they saw nine bodies inside the temple," Police Operation Center spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said.The death toll...

• As violence spreads, curfew declared in Bangkok

  The Thai government has declared a curfew in Bangkok from 8 pm until 6 am as rioting and violence spread across the capital.