Thailand lifts state of emergency from three provinces

Thailand lifted a state of emergency in three provinces today but kept the controversial security law in Bangkok and surrounding provinces where the government said the situation remained volatile.

Emergency rule has been in place since April, giving security forces broad power to deal with anti-government protests that spiraled into political violence that killed 91 people and wounded nearly 2,000 over April and May.

Vice Chancellor of St. John's University, Bangkok, Chainarong Monthienvichienchai told us that many people in Thailand feel as if the government should not need the state of emergency to handle the situation.

“This is mainly because the opposition sees that, even with the state of emergency, the government cannot do much in terms of calming down the situation” he told Vatican Radio, “and so it would be better, in their opinion, to have it lifted, and then the government use the existing laws to deal with the situation.”