People urged to shun anti-government protest

BANGKOK, January 4 (TNA) - The government-run Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO) says that a plan to "shut down” Bangkok from January 13 onwards by the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) is illegal, urging people not to support the move. Speaking in his address broadcast live nationwide on Saturday, Thailand's Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul told the public that the planned "Bangkok shutdown" by PDRC protesters, led by Suthep Thugsuban, a former Thai deputy prime minister of the Democrat Party, is the critical violation of laws, as it creates difficulties to the general public and business operators. Surapong, who is also CAPO chief, vowed that legal action will be taken against all PDRC leaders who violate the laws. According to the caretaker deputy prime minister, Thailand's caretaker government has prepared measures to cope with the planned "Bangkok shutdown" to maintain national peace and order.(TNA)