Protesters Try To Block Thai Elections
NPR
Friday, January 31, 2014
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Thai anti-government protesters hold protest placards during a rally in Bangkok on January 31, 2014. Tens of thousands of police will be deployed across Thailand for an election seen as a crucial test of the kingdom's fragile democracy, with opposition protesters threatening to lay siege to polling stations. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images)
There’s supposed to be an election in Thailand on Sunday, but today, demonstrators blockaded buildings where the ballots are stored.
Anti-government protesters have been out in the streets for three months, calling for the elections to be delayed. They believe the ruling party and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will easily be re-elected.
The protesters want the government replaced by an unelected “people’s council” they hope would reform Thailand’s political system.
The BBC’s Jonathan Head joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson from Bangkok to discuss the situation in Thailand, which he calls “very tense.”
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