Red masses unsettle [Thai] government

Tens of thousands of red shirt demonstrators gather at the Ratchaprasong intersection to commemorate the deaths of anti-government protesters killed in clashes with troops in Bangkok last May. The protesters rallied at the Democracy Monument before proceeding to Ratchaprasong. RATTASEEMA PONGSAN

Suthep raises concern of more rallies on unity

10/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Tens of thousands of red shirt members converged at the Ratchaprasong intersection Sunday, raising more headaches for the government.

It was their biggest gathering since the government revoked the emergency decree in Bangkok last month.

The red shirts were roused by a phone-in message from ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

About half an hour before the rally ended at 8.40pm, Thaksin addressed the red shirt demonstrators at the intersection. Thaksin said he would "do everything in his power" to bring happiness and prosperity to Thai people in the New Year.

"We will continue our quest for democracy until we find it. Justice, happiness, and prosperity must be returned to Thai people," Thaksin said, adding that he was on board a plane flying over Europe while making his address.

Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister in charge of national security, said any action which further creates political and social division was not helpful.

Speaking in Surat Thani Sunday, Mr Suthep expressed concern that many street rallies have been planned.

"After today, another group is turning up on Jan 25," he said, referring to the yellow shirt People's Alliance for Democracy which is upset with the government over its handling of the long-standing border dispute with Cambodia.

"If anyone could talk to them [the protester groups], our wish is for them to take the country's welfare to heart."

Once the situation in the country returns to normal, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will dissolve the House and call a general election, Mr Suthep said.

Earlier in the afternoon, the demonstrators were joined at the intersection by other red shirts who had made their way from Democracy Monument where they held merit-making rites to remember protesters who died during major protests in April and May last year.

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship staged two parallel protests at Phan Fa bridge near the Democracy Monument and the Ratchaprasong intersection last year.

The protesters later came together at the intersection before dispersing on May 19 when the military moved in to break up the protest.

Sunday, the crowd swelled at about 3pm at the intersection. Metal barricades were put up outside hotels and shopping centres in the area with large bands of anti-riot police on standby.

An hour later, the demonstrators removed the barricades outside Gaysorn Plaza shopping centre although no scuffle had broken out.

The protesters made their way on foot, in motorcycles and cars.

The intersection was closed as people spilled from the pavements on to the main road in frontof CentralWorld shopping centre.

At 8.40pm, the red shirts lit candles in remembrance of the 91 people who died in the political violence last year before they went home.

UDD chairwoman Thida Thavornseth said the next gathering will be held on Jan 23 in Bangkok.

The Department of Special Investigation was keeping an eye on Jatuporn Prompan, the UDD co-leader and opposition Puea Thai Party MP.

The Criminal Court has barred Mr Jatuporn from involvement in political rallies as a condition for his release on bail. He is among 19 core leaders of the UDD facing terrorism charges.

Mr Jatuporn has been released on bail on the understanding that he must not get involved in activities that could obstruct investigators or damage their case or court procedures.

Mr Jatuporn joined other red shirt figures in the merit-making ceremony at the Democracy Monument Sunday.

He said he was assured by his lawyer that his participation in the ceremony did not breach his bail conditions.

Mr Jatuporn said early in the day that he would not speak at the rally.

DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said if Mr Jatuporn did anything to defy the court's order, the department would seek to have his bail revoked.

Police chief Wichean Potephosree said police were watching for legal violations during the protest such as the release of lanterns and acts of lese majeste.

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EARLIER REPORT:

At least 30,000 red shirts gathered in Bangkok on Sunday, police said, in their biggest show of strength since a deadly military crackdown on their mass anti-government protest last May 19.

The demonstrators, clapping and singing in their trademark red clothes, brought traffic to a standstill in parts of the capital as they marched to the upscale shopping district calling for the release of their leaders in jail.

A security force of 1,000 was deployed in the capital for the event - the Red Shirts' first Bangkok rally since emergency rule was lifted there last month.

Police Major General Piya Utayo of the Metropolitan Police said that 30,000 had gathered, while a special branch police source later said 40,000 people were present at the protest's peak.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra addressed demonstrators in a 10-minute phone-in to the rally.

"I admire you for having strong hearts for democracy. The government's meaning of reconciliation is to chase up people who they can arrest, so that that the Reds will be no more," he told the crowds.

The controversial Thaksin, who draws support among the mainly poor and working class Red Shirts but is hated by the urban elite, said he was making the call from "a plane flying over Europe".

The red shirts have vowed to hold rallies twice a month in Bangkok to secure the release of their leaders who were jailed after their protest in April and May last year, which saw more than 90 people killed in clashes with troops.

"I'm doing my best to call for the release of people jailed and to remember those who lost their lives," said Jatuporn Prompan, a lawmaker and one of the senior red shirts facing terrorism charges.

Jatuporn, who has been granted bail, said legal experts had told him he could take part in the protest without violating his bail conditions so long as he did not speak to the crowds.

Sunday's rally comes as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva - whose term runs out at the end of this year - announced a new welfare package, which is designed to help low-income groups and address social inequalities.

The Red Shirts' two-month rally last year, which attracted 100,000 people at its peak in support of their demand for immediate elections, was brought to a bloody end on May 19 with a military assault on the group's base.

After the crackdown, a small band of militant protesters set dozens of buildings ablaze across Bangkok, including a glitzy shopping mall.

The group has since staged several rallies in the capital, the last attracting around 10,000 people on December 19, despite a state of emergency banning gatherings of more than five people, which was lifted late last month.

On Saturday a bomb in the Thai northeast, the Red Shirts' heartland, damaged a school named after the king's top aide but caused no injuries.

The bomb damaged the library at the school named after General Prem Tinsulanonda, the head of the king's privy council and a former prime minister whom the Red Shirts believe masterminded the coup that deposed Thaksin.

An intelligence official said the attack seemed designed to cause political unrest.