Asia News

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THAILAND:
Actions taken by the police prompted the leader of Thailand’s Pitak Siam anti-government party to call off a protest rally last Saturday. General Boonlert Kaewprasit said that police use of tear gas against unarmed protesters was improper and that he would not be the leader of any future rallies and would remove his name from political consideration.
Over 50,000 protesters were dispersed by the police with tear gas and at least 130 were detained. Pitak Siam means “protecting Siam” and the group is separate from the group known as “Yellow Shirts”. A police spokesman said the tear gas was appropriate in reaction to protesters attempting to break through barriers. The group wants to remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatr and his government from power.
THE KOREAS:
In an unexpected move South Korean software mogul Ahn Cheol-soo removed his candidacy for President last Friday. Ahn was seen as a top contender, but he said his reason for stepping aside was to give a boost to the chances of a second candidate, Moon Jae-in, to defeat the third candidate Park Geun-hye. Moon shares some of his liberal beliefs and if both stayed in the race the liberal vote would be split. Park is the candidate of the governing Saenure Party that is conservative.
The conservatives lean more towards U.S. involvement while the liberals want more engagement with the North and a balance in diplomacy with the U.S. and China.
BANGLADESH:
Fire at a garment factory last Saturday in Ashulia near Dhaka, Bangladesh, killed at least 100 workers who make clothing for U.S. outlets such as Kohls, Wal-Mart and Penny’s. Many of the some 2,000 in the 9 story building were working overtime when the fire began. Many of the survivors had to jump from windows to escape the flames.
While the mourning for those victims had hardly begun, another 10 story clothing factory in the Dhaka suburb of Uttara also caught fire, but this time fire fighters were able to subdue it after about 4 hours and no deaths were reported.
The country’s government declared an official period of mourning for the Saturday fire victims and for victims of the tragic collapse of an overpass in Southern Bangladesh that also occurred on Saturday. Chittagong Police said that they had recovered 13 bodies from the collapse of 3 concrete beams that gave way on an overpass that was under construction. Many others were feared trapped in the rubble. That incident brought out hundreds of protestors decrying a lack of proper government safety measures at construction sites and what they deemed unacceptable delays in getting rescue crews to the site.