Police Fear Violence
it has been raining and humid outside so am watching the Blue Sky Channel showing 4 different groups of protesters in Bangkok today. Comments on the ThaiVisa blog are interesting as usual. Of course I don’t have a clue what any the speakers are saying, singing, yelling and chanting.
A so-called million man march is being planned for tomorrow. This has a long complicated history but the bottom line is that exiled PM Thaksin has manipulated several groups to support his return to Thailand and others are dead set against not only his return, but his proxy government led by his sister that is currently in power.
At the Democracy Monument protest site, are a group of anti-Thaksin academics, representatives of labour unions from state enterprises, members of the Silom business community, political activists among others talking in front of thousands of cheering protesters with whistles and red, white and blue headbands.
The group on stage also includes leaders of the “People’s Army to Overthrow the Thaksin Regime” and the “Network of People and Students for Thailand’s Reform,” who have been holding separate rallies in Bangkok to voice their opposition to the government-backed controversial amnesty bill and the so-called Thaksin regime. The Student group is the most radical of course.
Meanwhile, pro-government red-shirt leaders have called on supporters to gather at Rajamangala Stadium today to discuss how to deal with what is expected to be a massive gathering of anti-government protesters tomorrow. The protesters are expected to split into 12 groups around Bangkok. The Chiang Mai 51 group has readied 150 buses to bring red-shirt protesters to Bangkok. So you can imagine what the traffic situation is going to be.
The police are worried that the red-shirt supporters will conflict with the anti-government anti-Thaksin supporters. 40 teams of rapid-response police officers have been set up to deal with the situation.
Toward the end of the day a grey-haired stately woman took the stage and voiced a plea to Thaksin to LEAVE US ALONE! LEAVE US ALONE! Then she said she was advised not to use rude language. So she swished her flag in the air with a “… OFF!”
I’m just going to sit in my guesthouse room with the TV and my computer for the day.
Tags: Bangkok, Thailand, World Watching And Politics
Zoe
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