Thai state labor unions vow to strike

BANGKOK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Dozens of Thai state labor unions planned to strike and curtail utility services as the capital Bangkok was brought under a state of emergency Tuesday.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, whose coalition government has been under public pressure for weeks, took the emergency step after overnight violent clashes between government supporters and opponents clashed in the capital.

More than 40 state enterprise labor unions planned to strike beginning Wednesday, cutting some services across the nation as part of their campaign to get the government to resign, the Bangkok Post reported Tuesday. A leader of the State Enterprise Labor Relations Confederation was quoted as saying the unions will cut water and electricity services mostly to agencies dealing with security.

The Post report said telephone lines to government agencies and the houses of cabinet ministers would be disconnected.

The union official, a core leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy or PAD, which is spearheading the protest, was quoted as saying the decision to cut utility services was taken in response to the use of force against PAD supporters.

A civil court Monday rejected a petition by the prime minister's secretariat to order the PAD to leave the Government House, occupied by the group's supporters. The case will go the appeals court, the Post said.

Samak government opponents claim it is a proxy for billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has ousted in a coup in 2006. Thaksin, who faces corruption charges, is living in England.