Torch lands in Bangkok, protests expected

Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:55pm EDT

 BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Olympic torch landed amid tight security on Friday in the Thai capital, the latest leg of its world tour, with police saying they were ready to stop any attempt by anti-China activists to put out the flame.

Several groups angry at Beijing's human rights record and its rule in Tibet are thought to be planning demonstrations which, if peaceful, will not incur the wrath of authorities, Thai Olympic chief General Yuthasak Sasiprapa said.

"If they are peaceful, it's OK," he told Reuters. "But we will not tolerate any violent or illegal protests. The torch and runners will be tightly escorted by police patrols and motorcycles all along the route."

The torch relay is due to start at 0800 GMT on Saturday.

Police are preparing for a demonstration of about 100 people outside the regional headquarters of the United Nations, which lies on the 10.5 km (6.5 mile) route from Bangkok's China Town to a parade ground outside the golden-spired Grand Palace.

The elite police Special Branch unit, which newspapers say has been consulting the Chinese embassy about security, said it was also trying to prevent members of the Falun Gong religious group, outlawed by Beijing, from demonstrating.

Yuthasak said short-cuts and alternative torch relay routes had been made ready in case of any "unexpected incidents".

The torch has been beset by protests about Chinese rule in Tibet during its long journey from Greece to the Games' official opening in Beijing in August.

On the previous leg of its swing through Asia, India had to deploy 15,000 police to keep at bay protesters from the world's largest community of exiled Tibetans.

Beijing claims the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader sought to upstage Olympics preparations and a multi-national torch relay.

The Dalai Lama has rejected the allegations, speaking out against the use of violence, calling for talks with China and backing the Beijing Olympics.

VOLATILE

The Xinhua commentary echoes official handling of earlier upsurges of popular nationalism when officials also sought to rein in volatile public anger that could turn against the government.

In May 1999, after NATO mistakenly bombed Beijing's Embassy in Belgrade during the war against Serbia and killed three Chinese nationals inside, angry students and citizens surrounded and stoned the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and attacked U.S. consulates in other parts of China.

Hu Jintao, then China's vice president and now its president, took the lead in cooling those protests by speaking on state television.

This time French companies are the main target with activists calling for a boycott of retailer Carrefour, accusing the company of helping fund the Dalai Lama.

But Xinhua urged readers to focus on economic development.

"Our tasks in accelerating domestic development are extremely heavy," it said. "We must convert full-hearted patriotic zeal into patriotic action."

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills and Sanjeev Miglani)