BANGKOK, 1 June 2011 – A total of 151 MP candidates from many political parties have requested police bodyguards during this election period, according to the Royal Thai Police.
National Police Advisor Police General Pongsapat Pongjaroen reported that the requests come from 51 party-list and constituency-based MP candidates of the Democrat Party, 50 candidates of Pheu Thai and 26 others of Bhumjaithai.
The national police advisor for security affairs added that most of the requests come from contestants in the areas where political rivalry is highly intense.
Police General Pongsapat further reported that three more provinces have been included in the list of fierce political competition zones. They are Mae Hong Son, Ratchaburi and Phuket. The addition raises the number of such zones to 13 provinces.
Nevertheless, the advisor said the police have been deployed to safeguard candidates in the aforementioned areas although they do not request protection. He said intelligence showed that some candidates are targets of attacks by ill-intentioned people.
