Emergency decree extended in Thailand

From Kocha Olarn, CNN

Red Shirt protesters returned to the streets of Bangkok last month.

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The emergency rule allows suspects to be detained for three months without formal charges
The emergency decree is imposed in April

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Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- An emergency decree in Bangkok and three provinces has been extended, a Thai government spokesman said Tuesday.

The decree allows authorities to detain suspects without formal charges up to 90 days.

The emergency rule was imposed in April after anti-government protests crippled much of Thailand.

The extension of the emergency rule also come after another protest in September where more than 10,000 anti-government demonstrators gathered in the heart of Bangkok's shopping district to mark the fourth anniversary of a bloodless coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

That peaceful demonstration lasted about four hours as one of the city's main intersections was again flooded with "Red Shirt" demonstrators -- so named for the color of their clothing.

But that demonstration was a far cry from the bloody protests where Red Shirts amassed in the same area from March to May until a crackdown by the government's security forces left 91 people dead and more than 2,000 injured.