Storms of Protest Forming Over Thailand

The political storm clouds are gathering in Thailand again, threatening more protests and unrest.
Storms of Protest Forming Over Thailand
Cindy Drukier
3/8/2010
Updated:
3/8/2010

The political storm clouds are gathering in Thailand again, threatening more protests and unrest.

Supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) or the “red shirts,” have been preparing for a mass rally in Bangkok this weekend. They are hoping for crowds of hundreds of thousands up to 1 million people to demand the dissolution of the government and new parliamentary elections.

Most of the protesters will be poor people from the countryside who have always been attracted by Thaksin’s populist policies.

Up to 20,000 Buddhist monks are also expected to join the demonstrations, according to prominent UDD member, Arisman Pongruangrong. He said the monks “will join this mass rally to give moral support to the red shirts while reminding the government, police, and army officials who serve the elite bureaucrats not to harm the protesters,” reported the Bangkok Post.

According to UDD organizers, the plan is for protesters to begin gathering in the provinces on March 12 and then converge on Bangkok’s expansive royal grounds, Sanam Luang, on March 14.

Thaksin supporters are angry over Thailand’s Supreme Court decision on Feb. 27 to seize $1.4 billion of the former prime minister’s assets—representing half of what was frozen when the military overthrew him in a coup in September 2006.

The court ruled that the mobile-phone-mogul-turned-prime-minister had abused his power to ensure satellite communications policies that benefitted his businesses. Also while in office, Thaksin divested shares in his company, Shin Corp., to family members—promptly selling them to a Singapore state-owned company for $1.9 billion without paying capital gains tax. The sale of Shin Corp is what triggered the 193-day long protest by the “yellow shirts” that eventually lead to a bloodless coup while the prime minister was out of the country in September 2006.

Thaksin has been living in exile ever since, but has remained very much in charge of his former party that was disbanded after the coup, but later recreated under a different name.

Internal Security Act Imposed

On Monday, Thailand’s current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, canceled his state visit to Australia March 13 to 17 to stay home and deal with any potential trouble.

The prime minster was also granted an audience by Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. While the content of their discussion has not been disclosed, it is widely speculated that the tense political situation was high on the agenda.

Abhisit’s government also announced that it had invoked the Internal Security Act, which would give sweeping powers to authorities to quell protesters should the demonstrations violate laws for peaceful assembly.

The prime minister held a session with his top bureaucrats to prepare them for the weekend. According to The Nation, Abhisit told his staff that he had received phone calls reporting high sales of military fatigues, bullets, and water pipes that can be used to make guns.

The Nation also reported that the prime minister said in his briefing that “intelligence shows that there are no exact plans for this upcoming rally. And there’s no unity. There’s even an idea to harm some fellow red-shirt leaders to create an incident. The government insists on enforcing the law and avoiding use of force.”

Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij, who was in Washington on Monday, said that the prime minister would be “as patient as all governments need be,” but at the same time was prepared to “use all means within its powers, within the laws of the country, to make sure that the property and safety of its citizens are protected,” reported AFP.

Cindy Drukier is a veteran journalist, editor, and producer. She's the host of NTD's International Reporters Roundtable featured on EpochTV, and perviously host of NTD's The Nation Speaks. She's also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her two films are available on EpochTV: "Finding Manny" and "The Unseen Crisis"
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