Pro-Thaksin supporters call for snap election
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators allied with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra staged their first major protest of the year in Bangkok today, demanding the government dissolve Parliament and call snap elections.
More than 3,500 policemen were deployed near the protest site - an open field in the historic heart of Bangkok - and the military was on standby, Bangkok police chief Lt Gen Suchart Maunkaew said before the late afternoon rally.
"We demand that the government returns power to the people because they do not have the mandate of the majority," said Jatuporn Phromphan, a protest leader. "We will continue to pressure them until they quit."
Thailand was plagued by protests last year by rival groups of demonstrators who either support or oppose Mr Thaksin, once one of the country's richest men, who now lives in self-imposed exile after being forced from office in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
Last year's protests were dominated by Mr Thaksin's opponents, who occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months and then seized Bangkok's two airports for eight days in November and December.
New Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva became Thailand's third leader in four months when Parliament appointed him in December after the court ousted Mr Thaksin's ally. The move ended the blockades led by the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy.
Today's protesters also demanded legal action against the alliance's leaders.
"We want to know why none of their leaders have been arrested when they clearly broke the law by occupying airports," said Mr Jatuporn.
Mr Jatuporn said the protesters planned to march this evening to the prime minister's office but insisted they would not break in as their rivals had done.
Saturday's rally was organised by the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship - commonly known as the "red shirts" because of their attire which contrasts with the yellow shirts worn by their rivals. The DAAD is an eclectic mix of Thaksin loyalists, rural farmers and labourers, all of whom benefited from Mr Thaksin's policies that reached out to the poor.
The protesters are also demanding the resignation of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya who was a vocal supporter of the anti-Thaksin demonstrators and publicly praised their November 29-December 3 airports siege as a "new innovation for public protests".
Mr Thaksin's supporters have staged small and sporadic protesters but have so far failed to significantly disrupt the work of the new government.
The former telecommunications tycoon remains popular among the rural majority for introducing a slew of social welfare plans, including virtually free medical care.
