The Ministry of Interior has set up a special watch centre to monitor the situation during the planned anti-government mass rally by the Pitak Siam group at the Royal Plaza on Saturday.
Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan said on Wednesday that he had this morning called a meeting of high ranking officials of his ministry to brief them on policy and guidelines in coordinating with the ministry’s rally watch centre.
Deputy Interior Ministers Pol Lt-Gen Chat Kuldilok and Pracha Prasopdee also attended the meeting.
Mr Charupong said as there was a report that some ill-intentioned people would take the opportunity to incite unrest, it is necessary for his ministry to call the meeting to create a clear understanding on peace keeping measures among officials in the event that the rally turns violent.
He said both district and provincial level rally watch centres will closely monitor the situation and people’s movements in their respective areas and directly report back to the ministry’s centre in Bangkok on a daily basis.
State offices and enterprises under the supervision of the ministry had been ordered to beef up security to prevent them from being attacked or seized, he added.
All rescue and firefighting vehicles and close circuit television cameras must be in place and ready for use in any emergency, the minister said.