EDITORIAL
Security authorities from the government on down have taken many wrong steps in their effort to make Bangkok safer. Seeing armed soldiers on seemingly every street corner and public place is not at all reassuring for Bangkokians or visitors. The troops convey almost every wrong image, while failing to address the problem of the continuing bomb and grenade attacks.
Creating an armed camp in the capital will heighten fear without affecting the odious group behind the serial bomb attacks.
One must credit Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban and his military-controlled Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) with one thing: when they said last week they would keep 464 Bangkok locations under 24-hour military surveillance, they were entirely truthful. By Saturday, Bangkok was figuratively a sea of green. Groups of soldiers in combat gear, rifles unshouldered and ready, were seemingly everywhere. Head for the skytrain station, walk warily past heavily armed troops. Go to the mall, edge by the soldiers.
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