Chamlong Srimuang arrested by Thai police

Police has arrested Chamlong Srimuang, a one-time mayor of Bangkok and also the leader of the month long protest against the Government, at a polling station where elections for the city’s top job were beginning Saturday.

On Aug. 27 police had issued arrest warrants for nine protest leaders on a variety of charges including insurrection, which carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment. These nine had led mass street demonstrations which brought down the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej last month.

“He is being detained,” Surapol Thuanthong, a police spokesman, said by telephone. “The next step is to bring him to court tomorrow.” Chamlong’s arrest may derail Somchai’s attempt to negotiate with PAD. Thousands of protesters joined the group to storm into Government House, which has been under siege since Aug. 26.

Somchai, Thaksin’s brother-in-law, is leading the PPP after Samak’s resignation. The party’s stronghold is in northeastern Thailand, or Isan, the country’s poorest region, where a third of the nation’s 66 million people live.

“When the police arrest the protest leaders, Isan people will be happy,” said Tawin Jomsri, a 50-year-old farmer in the northeastern province of Nong Bua Lumphu. “We are waiting for that.”