Thai protesters denounce coup leaders

Published Date: 20 September 2009
By Pracha Hariraksapitak in Bangkok

THOUSANDS of Thailand's anti-government protesters last night braved torrential rain and flooding to mark the third anniversary of the coup that toppled controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Some 10,000 campaigners, dubbed Red Shirts, defied thousands of riot police and soldiers to rally in Bangkok, calling for the resignation of a senior royal adviser they believed masterminded the ousting of their hero.

They did so despite a new law enacted just last week that empowers the military to curb the movement of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), as the group is formally known, and break up protests in the event of clashes.

Thailand has been bitterly divided between Red and Yellow shirts, who were holding counter demonstrations elsewhere in the country last night. The Reds, mostly from the rural poor, back Thaksin, who introduced health and education reforms in his five years in power before he was thrown out by the military in 2006. The Yellows support the current government, which has put down Red protests ever since violent clashes between the two sides this spring.

Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire and former owner of Manchester City FC, is currently in exile, reportedly in Dubai, in order to escape corruption charges against him and his wife in Thailand.

His supporters want to see the dissolution of parliament and the resignation of Prem Tinsulanonda, a senior aide to Thailand's revered king, 81-year-old Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Red Shirts, many from Thaksin's strongholds in the countryside, yesterday massed in stormy conditions at Bangkok's Royal Plaza close to Prem's residence, dressed in raincoats and huddled under umbrellas in water almost half a foot deep.

Thaksin's supporters say the Thai establishment – royalists, the military and Bangkok's business-oriented middle and upper class – is unwilling to yield the privileges it has long held at the countryside's expense.

"We are here to show that we want democracy. This government didn't come from democracy. They're a dictatorship in disguise," said 62-year-old Jiraporn Litmontri from north-eastern Loei province.

The demonstration was the fifth big show of support for the former telecoms tycoon since an army crackdown on the UDD in April, showing the resilience of the pro-Thaksin movement.

Despite living in exile after fleeing ahead of a two-year prison sentence for graft, Thaksin remains a major political stakeholder in Thailand because of his vast war chest and his influence over the rural masses. Thaksin was due to address the crowd in a phone-in later yesterday He is believed to be in Dubai, where he has spent most of his time since skipping bail in Thailand more than a year ago.

Thailand has been locked in four years of political stalemate fuelled by violent rallies, assassination attempts, dissolution of political parties and the seizure of Bangkok's main airports, which have left the country of 67 million deeply polarised.

An election after the coup returned Thaksin's allies to power, but his opponents seized the seat of government and the capital's two airports, and court rulings purged two pro-Thaksin prime ministers and led to PM Abhisit Vejjajiva taking power.

Export credit and risk insurance agency ONDD this week downgraded its medium and long-term political risk rating for South-east Asia's second-biggest economy because of continued uncertainty and "the absence of a durable solution to the crisis".

Separately, an unknown number of people were injured yesterday in clashes between villagers and supporters of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in northeastern Si Sa Ket province bordering Cambodia.Channel 9 television said a state of emergency had been declared in the province's Kantharalak district, with riot police sent to break up fighting between yellow-shirted PAD protesters and villagers armed with slingshots and stakes.

Scores of villagers hurled rocks at cars and buses transporting 4,000 protesters to the disputed frontier, where they planned to rally to "reclaim" the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, which an international court awarded to Cambodia in 1962.

The PAD is a loose grouping of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class. They are led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul and Chamlong Srimuang, a former general with close ties to Prem Tinsulanonda.

In the months leading up to the 2006 coup, the Yellow Shirts accused Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power. They also accused him of inadequate loyalty to the monarchy, and wear yellow because it is the king's colour.

The Bangkok protest and the Si Sa Ket clashes will be another setback for prime minister Abhisit as he works to revive the export-driven economy and hold together a fragile six-party coalition plagued by infighting.

Instability within the nine-month old government and the possibility of more clashes have sparked rumours of another coup.

The speculation has had no impact on financial markets and most analysts say a coup is unlikely. Thaksin, however, is the only post-war democratically elected political leader to serve a full term.