by Boonradom Chitradon, March 12, 2010
BANGKOK (AFP) – Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra in trademark red shirts began to gather Friday ahead of weekend protests in Bangkok aimed at toppling the government.
Around 6,500 protesters staged early demonstrations in the capital before dispersing after several hours while thousands more gathered in the rural north before starting their journey to Bangkok for the main rally on Sunday.
Organisers insist the protests will be non-violent, but the government is rolling out a 50,000-strong security force and has enacted a tough security law that allows authorities to impose curfews and limit movements.
"I am joining the demonstration to call for democracy and to end the double standards. We come of our own free will," said Saket Khosri, 46, a Bangkok housewife attending one of the downtown rallies, billed as a warm-up to Sunday.
The bright red-clad crowd made its way along a main Bangkok thoroughfare, most on foot and on motorbikes and tuk-tuks, before dispersing mid-afternoon.
"Today we had some small groups gathering, this is not yet a rally. We want to build sentiment before Sunday," said key Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan.
Coming two weeks after Thailand's top court confiscated 1.4 billion dollars of Thaksin's assets, the protests are the latest chapter in a political crisis that has beset Thailand since Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup.
Thaksin, who lives abroad, mostly in Dubai, to avoid a jail term for corruption at home, issued on Friday the latest in a series of rallying cries via Twitter.
"I offer my moral support to the Red Shirts who are making a sacrifice and are coming out to write history today," Thaksin said on a Twitter posting.
Police said 14,000 protesters had left Thaksin's home city Chiang Mai for Bangkok, although the Reds estimated the figure at 20,000. About 10,000 had departed Udon Thani in the northeast, said another leader, Kwanchai Praipana.
Thousands of others had gathered in other provinces but exact numbers were not yet available, organisers and officials said.
The protest is set to be the biggest since the Red Shirts rioted in Bangkok in April, leaving two dead and scores injured. Organisers have dubbed it a "million-man march" though the government predicts around 100,000 will turn up.
The Red Shirts mainly represent Thailand's rural poor, who benefited from Thaksin's populist policies and say the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is elitist, military-backed and has ignored their democratic rights.
The Red Shirts want Abhisit to stand down and call new elections, but he rejected their call Friday.
"I will only dissolve parliament for the common good, not just for temporary peace, so my government will continue to work," said Abhisit, who cancelled a weekend trip to Australia because of the looming rally.
Thaksin, meanwhile, is still loathed by the rival royalist "Yellow Shirts" backed by Bangkok's establishment, who accuse him of corruption and of insufficient loyalty to the revered royal family.
Thirty-five countries have issued travel warnings for Thailand because of the protests, according to the country's tourism authority.
Bangkok's main airport, which was besieged by protesters in 2008, has made contingency plans for the rallies and the Stock Exchange of Thailand also has measures prepared to ensure trading is not affected.
Analysts say the number of Red Shirts who actually turn up will be key to deciding whether they have any chance of pushing out the government before Thailand's next elections, due in December 2011.
The Red Shirts have held a number of protests since Abhisit came to power in December 2008 after a court decision removed Thaksin's allies from government following the airport blockade by the Yellow Shirts.
