BANGKOK — The head of the National Security Council has insisted that it is necessary to extend the Internal Security Act (ISA) for another 61 days in order to prevent clashes between rival protest groups.

Pro-government Redshirts have scheduled their next mass rally on 6 May, while the anti-government People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD) has also promised "one last struggle" against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in the coming weeks.

"I have to admit I am concerned by these assemblies," said National Security Council Chief Lt.Gen. Paradorn Pattanatabutr at a science museum in Pathumthani province where today's cabinet meeting was held.

"[We] have to monitor the situation closely. At this point, there are many potential perpetrators. Third-hand parties have infiltrated the demonstrators. The violence is also spreading further."

He added, "I will stress to the authorities that their priority should be to separate the two large protest groups in order to avoid confrontation."

Nevertheless, Lt.Gen. Paradorn insisted that the government can contain the situation, and there is no need to re-impose a state of emergency over Bangkok in the foreseeable future.

"I believe the ISA can contain the situation. We don't need to use special laws," Lt.Gen. Paradorn said.

The extension of the ISA will last for 61 days, until the end of June. In theory, the ISA grants law enforcement authorities increased power to respond to protesters, including the authority to bar demonstrators from entering particular roads or buildings, detain suspects without charges, and censor the media. 

Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said he will advise Ms. Yingluck to decrease the number of army troops deployed to oversee the streets of Bangkok.

Mr. Surapong said a lighter presence of troops will help avoid attacks on military personnel, such as the alleged shooting and beating of an army colonel that occured at the hands of PCAD guards last week. 

Mr. Surapong said he expects the number of soldiers currently deployed throughout Bangkok to drop from 10,000 to as low as 3,000.

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BANGKOK — Hundreds of Redshirt supporters packed the grounds of Wat Samien Naree Temple today to bid their final farewell to the pro-government poet and activist who was murdered last week.

Kamol Duangphasuk, 45, was shot dead by a pair of masked assassins on 23 April while he was starting his car in a restaurant parking lot in Bangkok.

Mr. Kamol, commonly known by his pen name Mai Nueng Gor Gunthee, was a longtime activist who was critical of the country’s lese majeste (insult of monarchy) laws. In the final years of his life, Mr. Kamol became closely aligned with the pro-government Redshirt movement. 

Today’s cremation ceremony for Mr. Kamol was chaired by Jatupon Prompan, the chairperson of the Redshirt umbrella group the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD). Over 5,000 Redshirts also attended the ceremony.

Although police have not determined a clear motive behind Mr. Kamol’s murder, many Redshirt activists who knew him privately have speculated that the activist was targeted in revenge for his alleged involvement with violent attacks on anti-government protesters in recent months.

The purported link between Mr. Kamol and the political violence that has beleaguered Bangkok since last November was corroborated by a letter reportedly hand-written by Wuttipong Kochthammakul, a "hardcore" Redshirt activist who has gone in hiding since he was charged with lese majeste several weeks ago.

The purported letter was published on the Facebook account of one of Mr. Wuttipong's close friends. In the letter, Mr. Wuttipong, aka "Ko Tee," expressed shock over Mr. Kamol's death, and claimed to be currently living in exile in Cambodia.  

Mr. Wuttipong wrote that he greatly missed the time when he and Mr. Kamol participated in "secret works," most of which were successful, the letter says.

"Please rest in peace," Mr. Wuttipong wrote in the letter. "The guerilla unit we have organised, both overground and underground, along with our idea-ideology-method of struggle, is still there."

The fugitive activist also saluted Mr. Kamol for being the "brain" of the “people's struggle” movements.

He added, "Ten are killed, but hundreds of thousands more will be born. This is what we say, and it will be true. The Hundred Bundled Red Bamboos Campaign will continue in its resolve to unite [the masses] into a great log that shall break apart the wall of aristocracy."

It is unclear what “The Hundred Bundled Red Bamboos Campaign” refers to.

Mr. Wuttipong has not been seen in public since royalist activists filed lese majeste charges against him for negative comments he made about His Majesty the King in an interview with Vice News.

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BANGKOK — Police say they have arrested a soldier and a student carrying firearms and a map of an anti-government protest site in Bangkok.

The pair was reportedly arrested shortly after midnight at a security checkpoint on Rama IX Road in Huai Kwang district.

The suspects were identified as Sgt. Jakkrapong Siprom, 27, a soldier working in the Royal Thai Army's Signal Department, and Sattawat Chaiyapon, 24, a university student.

According to the police, a search of their vehicle turned up one MP5 submachine gun, one Glock handgun, 56 rounds of 9 mm. ammunition, 17 rounds of .223 ammunition, a grenade, a flashlight, radio equipment, and a pair of balaclavas.

The suspects were also carrying a detailed map of the area around Lumpini Park where supporters of the People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD) have been organizing rallies against the government.

Pro-government activists have repeatedly accused army personnel of tacitly aiding the PCAD by supplying them with weapons and serving in their ranks as "guards," an allegation the army has steadfastly denied. 

There is no immediate comment from the Royal Thai Army regarding the arrest.

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BANGKOK — Anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has urged his supporters to prepare for the "last fight" to overthrow the government.

Mr. Suthep, who has made himself secretary-general of the People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD), told throngs of supporters in an eastern suburb of Bangkok today that the PCAD will soon achieve a great victory. 

It is unclear when the "last uprising" against the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will take place. Mr. Suthep has made similar ultimatums in the past.

PCAD leader Sakoltee Phattiyakul, who was arrested by police and recently released on a bail, also attended today’s march in Bang Khae district despite court orders that he not participate in any political gatherings as a condition for his release on bail.

PCAD leaders also planned an event at their campsite in Lumpini Park to celebrate the 180th day of their prolonged rally against Ms. Yingluck.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of pro-government Redshirts organised a rally on the same day in Chaiyaphum province to show their support for the caretaker Prime Minister.

Redshirt leaders have repeatedly warned that millions of pro-government supporters across the country will rise up to defend Ms. Yingluck if she is ousted from her position by extra-legal means.

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