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Bangkok Steps Up Security Measures
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=15B68CD:A6F02AD83191E1606815397B8CC2B6079574F7DCC14957C0 Move is in
response to a fatal New Year's Eve bombings and before the annual
Children's Day celebrations Security measures are being stepped up in
Bangkok, following the fatal New Year's Eve bombings and before an
annual celebration this Saturday. VOA's Suzanne Presto in Bangkok
reports.

There are a few signs of stepped up security in Thailand's capital in
recent days; the occasional armed soldier or security guard checking
handbags at an entrance to the city's subway system, and clear plastic
bags where there once were sturdy public trash bins.







Thai soldiers, providing security at the office of Assets Examination
Committee (AEC), keep eyes on small group of supporters of Panthongtae
Shinawatra, background, in Bangkok, Thailand 10 Jan 2007Government
officials say there are additional security measures throughout the
city, including some that members of the public are not meant to
notice.

"The army has now put in personnel into over 300 locations around the
metropolis to keep check on various movements," said Yongyuth
Mayalarp, a spokesman for the Thai government. "The army, as well as
the police, are in full scale operation at the moment, looking after
all the areas, in uniforms and out of uniforms."

In addition to plain-clothes security forces, the government is also
planning to install 1,000 closed-circuit television cameras.

Security is going to be even tighter in the capital Saturday, January
13, for the annual Children's Day celebrations. It will be the city's
first large-scale event since New Year's Eve. Tens of thousands of
people are expected to attend the festivities in Bangkok.

Government buildings will be open to the public. But a Ministry of
Education event will be held in a large fairground in central Bangkok
and Yongyuth explains extra security measures will be in place.

"The Ministry of Education is arranging to have the equipment to
detect explosive devices to be installed at entrances, and requesting
families and children to enter the premises without carrying rucksacks
or anything that may be difficult to inspect," he said.

Meanwhile, the military government of Thailand is asserting greater
control over the country since it took power in a coup in September.
It has canceled the diplomatic passports of deposed prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife.

It has again told local media to censor its reporting. The latest
warnings insist Thai media should not report on the movements or
statements made by the now-exiled Thaksin.


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