Army checkpoints in Bangkok get flowery makeover

BANGKOK (AP) — Military checkpoints set up in Thailand’s capital to keep security during the country’s political unrest are getting a makeover in a bid to project a kinder, gentler image, the army said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Wara Boonyasit, a division commander, said soldiers have decorated some bunkers with colorful flowers and potted plants after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra suggested that the 176 checkpoints around Bangkok may be unnerving residents and scaring foreign tourists.