Amid tight security, thousands of Red Shirt opposition supporters paid final respects today to the Thai renegade general assassinated at the height of last month’s anti-government protests.
The mourners filed through a Buddhist temple in Bangkok to attend the cremation of Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol, shot in the head by a sniper on May 13 while giving interviews to journalists.
It was the largest gathering of Red Shirts – who swapped their signature attire for black and white clothes of mourning – since the army’s dispersal of protesters on May 19.
“The funeral is a time for mourning, but it’s also a time to show solidarity,” said Pongsak Phusitsakul, a provincial protest leader who attended with other Red Shirts from his province.