Country weathers protests

Sun, September 20, 2009
By THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AGENCIES
Published on September 20, 2009

Red shirts defy heavy rains to mark third anniversary of coup with peaceful rally; Violence mars yellow shirts' bid to march to disputed area on border with Cambodia

The country was hit by two mass protests yesterday when about 20,000 anti-government red shirts held a rally in Bangkok and thousands of the rival yellow shirts marched towards a disputed border area near Si Sa Ket.

The Bangkok protest was generally peaceful although it was disrupted by a heavy downpour. However, the march by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to a cliff next to the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple led to a clash between the yellow shirts and local villagers, who said they feared the protest would further sour ties with Cambodia.

The red shirts gathered at the Royal Plaza to mark the third anniversary of the military coup that ousted the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now a fugitive overseas.

"We came here today to mark the third anniversary of the coup, which has caused huge damage to the country," red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan told the crowd as a thunderstorm drenched the protest site.

"This will be a peaceful protest and will end by midnight if the government does not use violence," said Jatuporn, who is also an MP from the opposition Pheu Thai Party.

Thaksin was due to address the crowd later by video-link.

Authorities deployed more than 6,500 soldiers and police and imposed the Internal Security Act in the protest area, amid fears of a repeat of riots by the same group in April, which left two people dead.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there were reports unidentified groups of trouble-makers could set off bombs in the capital to create unrest. "I am worried about the situation tonight and have warned intelligence agencies," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of security, warned yesterday that four to five groups of trouble-makers might try to incite violence during the red-shirt protest.

The red shirts continued their protest despite hours of heavy rain that flooded the protest site around the Royal Plaza.

Heavy rain started at 2.20pm and the downpour didn't stop till more than two hours later. Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship leaders Veera Musigapong, Nattawut Saikua and Chatuporn Prompan took turns to address protesters on the stage, urging them to stand their ground and not to leave the protest site.

Some protesters who came by their personal vehicles left the scene and some waded through knee-length water at certain spots and found shelter at roofed bus stops.

When the rain stopped, they converged again at the Royal Plaza. They held hands vowing not to give up even if it rained heavier. The back of their main rally stage read: "Three years against bureaucratic polity to found a new Thai state".

More than 100 pieces of plywood were kept behind the stage, ready to be installed if the authorities turned on a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to disrupt their protest.

Sanchai Chadapet, a leader of the red shirts, took to the make-shift stage on a pickup truck loaded with loud speakers after moving on Si Ayutthaya Road to the Si Sao Residence of Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda. He slammed the elder statesman for 30 minutes before an audience of 50 red shirts before dispersing to join the main stage. They carried a 500-metre long cloth with a message "Give us back the 1997 Constitution".

Police threw a security blanket around Prem's residence.

The red shirts accuse Prem of masterminding the 2006 coup.

Earlier yesterday, some 4,000 red-shirt supporters of Thaksin showed up outside Prem's country home in Nakhon Ratchasima but called off their protest when confronted by an Army guard and informed that the chief royal adviser was not there.