The Royal Thai Police Office has rejected the protesters’ offer to replace the letters prised from its name on the wall outside the entrance to the compound, and says it will pursue legal action against 21 protesters responsible for the vandalism.
Protesters remove letters from the name plate on the wall outside the Royal Thai Police Office on Rama 1 Road.on Jan 2, 2014 (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
The protesters, under the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (NSPRT), on Wednesday removed or defaced all the Thai and English wording on the sign, replacing it with a spray-paint abbreviation of the group’s name. As of Thursday morning, the police had over-painted the defaced sign in black.
Police spokesman Piya Uthayo said there was evidence a total of 21 people were involved in defacing state property and police would seek the highest level of punishment in this case.
He said national police chief Adual Saengsingkaew had ordered that all be calm and ordered a new sign to be made, but the police would certainly refuse the accept the NSPRT's to return or have a new sign made.
The spokesman said police contnued to monitor the protest situation nationwide. There were also protests against the election in 24 provinces, five each in the North, Central and the East, and the Northeast, and nine in the South.
There were also activities supporting the Feb 2 election in six provinces - Lampang, Nakhon Sawan, Chanthaburi, Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen and Lop Buri.