Thai gov't has no plan to replace state of emergency ISA law: Deputy PM

Thailand's government has no plan to replace the state of emergency with the Internal Security Act (ISA) in some areas, Deputy Prime Minister overseeing security Suthep Thaugsuban said on Wednesday, the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT) reported.

The Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) and government are going to assess the situation next week to see if the state of emergency can be lifted or not, he said.

The assessment on the situation will be made before the state of emergency will complete its 3-month term of the enforcement on July 7.

Though the anti-government protests ended on May 19, the government has still maintained its enforcement of the state of emergency in order to ensure security for the public.

The state of emergency has been imposed from April 7, 2010, in 24 provinces of Thailand's 76 provinces, empowering police and army to control the then anti-government protests.

The death toll from a series of violent clashes between the "red-shirt" protesters and troops during March 12 to May 19 stood at 88 as some 1,885 others were wounded.

Source: Xinhua