A labour leader predicted yesterday that violent worker unrest could spread in the wake of a factory protest that was crushed by a police baton charge.
The clash at a car parts factory on Tuesday night was the most violent labour protest since the economy started to nose-dive last year. It followed a cut in bonuses from the equivalent of three months' salary to three weeks'.
Chin Tubplee, president of the National Labour Congress, called for workers under pressure from the worsening economy to stay calm.
But he predicted that the normally docile labour force would be increasingly likely to form violent mobs if the Government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai failed to control consumer prices.
'I believe under the economic recession, mobs of workers will keep forming and will be joined by ordinary people,' he said.
Police said yesterday that only one of the 58 people arrested had been released on bail.
Investigators were compiling evidence on charges of attempted arson, disobeying police orders, causing injury to police, illegal gathering, causing damage to property and blocking a road.