Swelling crowds of anti-government protesters swarming in central Bangkok cheered and rattled their plastic clappers this afternoon as one of their leaders told the Thai Government to dissolve parliament within 24 hours or face the consequences.
Tens of thousands of protesters from the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, better known as Red Shirts, filled streets around the protest site yesterday to demand the resignation of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Prime Minister.
They had arrived by boat, van, bus, coach and pick-up truck from all over Thailand to insist on political change and fresh elections, and many said they were ready to stay on the streets until they achieved their aim.
“We demand the Government give up administrative power by dissolving the parliament and returning power to the people,” said Veera Musikapong, one of the protest leaders, from a central stage at the site, warning that demonstrators would march to key locations in Bangkok if their demands were not met.
Pisanoo Limpiwan, a delivery man from a village 350 miles (400km) south of Bangkok, said he had come to Bangkok because “the Government is not correct”.
The "Red Shirts" believe the Government, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Prime Minister, is illegitimate because it came to power by virtue of defections from the opposition, rather than by winning an election.
Mr Pisanoo said it had taken him six hours to get to Bangkok on the bus, and his wife had stayed at home. She did not agree with Mr Pisanoo’s political views, and she was worried that the neighbours did not either. “She said this is not acceptable,” Mr Pisanoo said, waving has arm at the thronging red shirts. “She thinks differently from me.”
Mr Abhisit used his weekly television programme this morning to tell Thais that he had no intention of using force to deal with the Red Shirts, and would not declare a state of emergency.
He said that he did not mind if the rally lasted for a week, or even a month, as long as it was peaceful. At the demonstration it looked as though the Red Shirts were hunkering down for the long haul – portable lavatories, tents, hammocks, food stalls, shade pavilions, and two stages have been positioned along roads adjacent to the monument.
The protest site in central Bangkok is surrounded by tourist attractions, banks and offices, and a prolonged protest would further damage Thailand’s already battered international reputation. This morning the streets around the site were quiet, with shuttered shops and few vehicles on the roads.
Mr Suthin Joseph Lee, a retiree from Bangkok, said he had slept at the site last night, and he planned to stay until the Government was ousted.
“We want our country to have justice and democracy; the true and the real democracy,” he said.
Red Shirts had swarmed in from all over Thailand, enduring traffic jams and hours-long waits at military checkpoints to make their voices heard, he added. None were armed, except with plastic bags filled with fermented fish sauce to throw at the enemy.
“We will throw it at those who support Abhisit. We don’t like him. We don’t want him. The military carried him to power,” he said.
The Red Shirts consider Mr Thaksin, ousted in 2006 and now living in exile in Dubai after fleeing Thailand, as a hero of the poor and dispossessed despite his conviction for corruption last year. The UAE authorities have in recent days reportedly warned Mr Thaksin to stop using Dubai as a base for political agitation, but he is nevertheless expected to address his supporters via video link.
Somchart Pihit-Arksorn, a 45-year-old lawyer from Pattani in Thailand’s far south, said he could not stay away from the rally, which was the last hope for a democratic nation. “I just want democracy,” he said.
Sitting with him was Adul Kirdsil, a cattle farmer from Khorat in the east, who had come to Bangkok with his wife to join the demonstration.
“We will be here until we win,” he said. Jaid Chuntaoon, 40, an electronics lecturer from Chiang Rai in the far north, said that he had driven to Bangkok because Mr Thaksin had tried to help the poor.
“I want to pay back Mr Thaksin,” he said. “His policies helped us, the poor people. I don’t think he was guilty. We have no justice here, no justice for poor people. They use the law like it’s martial law. It’s just not fair. The rich can do anything.”
More than 50,000 security personnel have been deployed to deal with any unrest, including 30,000 from the Army, 10,000 police officers and 10,000 “civil defence volunteers”, and the Government has invoked the Internal Security Act, giving security forces wide-ranging powers to institute curfews, ban gatherings, and deploy troops.
Suvarnabhumi airport is on high alert as the authorities are determined to avoid a repeat of the occupation in 2008, when pro-government “Yellow Shirts” seized the airport to force political change.
Leaders of the Red Shirts dubbed their protest the “million-man march”, but yesterday Thai security agencies were estimating crowds of about 80,000, likely to swell further today.
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