Thai National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Paradorn Pattanatabut said marches by anti-government protesters could be more violent next week and the government will consider an emergency decree if necessary.

He warned that the anti-government movement’s plan to shutdown all the local authorities in the south early next week will create a precedent for protesters in other localities to follow suit.

The government is keeping a close watch on the situation and will take tougher measures to protect civilians’ rights and prevent unexpected things, he said.

Earlier, on January 17, a bomb blast at an anti-government protest site in Bangkok, led by Suthep Thaugsuban, killed one person.

According to the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order, the explosion was caused by the protesters themselves, not by someone throwing the bomb from an isolated building on the route the protesters were marching as initially suspected.

On January 19, at least 28 people were injured in two bomb blasts at a key anti-government protest site in Bangkok as thousands of protesters continued their campaign to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down.-VNA