Bangkok Red-shirt Rally - Live Updates

[george]

Update:

Thaksin protesters converge for Bangkok rally

by Boonradom Chitradon

BANGKOK, March 13, 2010 (AFP): -- Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra gathered near ministry buildings in Bangkok on Saturday to rally against the government, sporting their signature red shirts.

Bangkok police said 45,000 Red Shirts had arrived at a stage rigged up for Sunday's rally after most travelled from the rural north and through military checkpoints set up at entry points to the capital.

Thai authorities have used a tough security law to deploy a 50,000-strong security force, including soldiers, to patrol the streets and search protesters, fearing some could incite trouble.

The Red Shirts travelled to the city mostly by pick-up truck and car, playing loud music and waving red flags and heart-shaped clappers in jubilant spirits.

"Tomorrow we will declare our demands to the government, that it must step down and dissolve the house," Red Shirt Jatuporn Prompan said at the rally site.

"If our demands are not met then we will step up our campaign on Monday but I can reassure everyone that it will be peaceful."

The government has enacted the strict Internal Security Act to monitor the rally, allowing authorities to set up checkpoints, impose curfews and limit movement of people.

Current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has refused to bow to protesters' demands, spoke to reporters after meeting ministers and top brass at a military barracks.

"We should not be complacent because there are some groups of people still wanting to create violence and cause confrontations," said Abhisit, who has cancelled a weekend trip to Australia because of the rally.

The government has lowered its estimate of expected turnout at Sunday's rally to 70,000, but the Red Shirts say the final figure will be nearer 600,000.

The protests come two weeks after Thailand's top court confiscated 1.4 billion dollars of Thaksin's assets, and are the latest chapter in a political crisis that has beset Thailand since he was toppled in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin, who has been living mostly in Dubai to escape a two-year jail term for corruption at home, has been encouraging his supporters using text messages and his Twitter page.

"Thank you for your dedication.... I want to give my support to the people in the north," he told his followers on Twitter Saturday, before announcing he was about to fly from Dubai to Europe to see his two daughters.

The protest is set to be the biggest since the Red Shirts rioted in Bangkok in April last year, leaving two dead and scores injured.

The Red Shirts mainly represent Thailand's rural poor, who benefited from Thaksin's populist policies and say Abhisit's government is elitist, military-backed and has ignored their democratic rights.

Thaksin, by contrast, is loathed by the rival royalist "Yellow Shirts" backed by Bangkok's establishment, who accuse him of corruption and of disloyalty 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.

Analysts say the number of Red Shirts who actually rally on Sunday will be key to deciding whether they have any chance of pushing out the government before Thailand's next elections, due in December 2011.

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-03-13

Published with written approval from AFP.

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[george]

Rajdamnoen a sea of red as protesters set up camp

By PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Red-shirt protesters, at least 100,000 strong, occupied Rajdamnoen Avenue Saturday and more kept flowing into the capital from all over the Kingdom Saturday night.

Arrivals quickly set up temporary shelters and cooked dinners in anticipation of a final bid to oust the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration and the old bureaucratic elite.

Makeshift toilets were being installed by the red shirts to supplement those provided by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and many food stalls quickly sprang up.

As night fell some traded stories, while others went to listen to the main stage's speakers on Phan Fah Bridge, which became a sea of red shirts.

"The line of cars was really long," said one female red shirt to a male fellow protester. "Two hundred cars alone left Uttaradit," the man added.

Both ends of the lengthy rally site along Rajdamnoen Avenue - Sanam Luang and the Royal Plaza - soon became crowded car parks. At Sanam Luang, a stage was set up by little-known red-shirt members for them to take turns going up to attack the government.

"We can't lose this time. But if we lose, we can expect to stand as equals. The media and academics look down on us, but people with a Grade-4 education have brains too," said an on-stage voice.

Although the atmosphere was relaxed and full of buzz, some red shirts were feeling distrustful of the authorities and were worried that dirty tactics could be employed by the government to make it look like the red shirts had started violence during the night.

"We must keep vigilant tonight. They know more red shirts will arrive tomorrow and maybe they want to stop us tonight and create a situation to justify a clampdown," said one female red shirt from Bangkok, who asked not to be identified.

For the same reason, many red shirts decided not to park their vehicles at designated areas provided by the government for fear that weapons or bombs may be planted and the blame placed on them.

A 7-Eleven convenience store on Rajdamnoen, fearing drink-fuelled violence, put up signs stating it was not selling alcohol for the time being.

A staff member at the store said the ban would last until the protests were over, but confessed he did not quite know how to explain the situation to foreign tourists, who would also be denied beer and whisky.

-- The Nation 2010-03-13

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[george]

bangkokpundit: Pravit estimates 100k so far

[george]

Govt likely to enforce state of emergency on top of ISA:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thai-Govt-En...nc-t347220.html

[Maestro]

The Nation: Thaksin on where he is (or was, or ..whatever) :

Discussion here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thaksin-Arri...83#entry3412283