Thaksin supporters raise the spectre of violence

The supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin, in a defiant message, vowed Wednesday to draw in more than 500 thousand people in a bid to force the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and call fresh elections.

The protest rally, set for March 14, is expected to draw in people from all over Thailand and is led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship or UDD, also known for wearing Red Shirts.

The plans come just days after Thaksin was found guilty by the supreme court for abuse of power and concealment of his wealth while leader from 2001 to 2006. He was ousted in a coup in late 2006.

The court also called for the seizure of over 60 per cent of Thaksin’s Thai assets, worth around 1.4 billion dollars.

Thaksin supporters want to limit Privy Council's influence

Sean Boonpracong, UDD international spokesman, said besides bringing down the government, the group wants to see a return to a constitution passed by parliament in 1997.

"We have three goals," he said. "The simplest goal is to dissolve the parliament; the second, to bring back the constitution of 1997; and the third is for the Privy Council to stay out of politics."

The Privy Council is the key advisory body to the Thai King Bhumipol Adulyadej. Key members of the Council had opposed former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawtra when he was in power.

The Thai middle class had also accused Thaksin of seeking to usurp the authority of the highly revered King.

Fears of bloodshed

The UDD leaders, speaking to foreign correspondents, raised the specter of violence during the rally if security forces moved against the protestors. Jaran Ditthapichai, a UDD spokesman warned of a violent reaction to any moves by the Abhisit government to suppress the protestors.

"If there is civil war there will not be an election – maybe for 10 years or five years," he said. Sunai Pasuk, the Thailand representative for Human Rights Watch, said there were genuine concerns of violence amid reports Thaksin, now living in exile in Dubai, was currently meeting several former military officers. Thaksin fled Thailand in 2008 to escape an earlier corruption conviction.

"We need to see more convincing assurances from both sides," Pasuk said. "We need to see, particularly from the protestors’ side, that their massive mobilization of people of people to Bangkok will not be out of control; they will be unarmed, and they will be willing to submit themselves to accountability."

The fears of bloodshed have come just 10 months after anti-government, pro-Thaksin demonstrations in Bangkok and at a seaside resort, where red shirt activists broke the doors of a conference centre. This led to the a summit of Asian leaders being cancelled.

Author: Ron Corben
Editor: Thomas Baerthlein