BANGKOK - Thousands of supporters of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra braved a tropical downpour and tight security Saturday to protest on the third anniversary of the 2006 coup that ousted him.
About 10,000 members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) kicked off a rally at Bangkok’s Royal Grounds despite a rainstorm that left the protesters drenched and scrambling for shelter.
UDD leaders vowed to protest until midnight while insisting the demonstration would not turn violent.
“We will not do anything violent,” UDD co-leader Chatupon Phonpan said. “But if a third hand is used to stir up trouble, we will stay here.”
Organisers hoped to gather more than 30,000 people to protest the Sep 19, 2006, coup, which toppled Thaksin, a populist billionaire, and resulted in the freezing of his family’s assets worth $2 billion.
A 6,500-man combined force of police and soldiers equipped with riot gear were stationed in the nearby Dusit district to keep the peace during the demonstration.
The Dusit district of Bangkok - encompassing Government House, the Parliament building and the house of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda - was put under the protection of the Internal Security Act this weekend, allowing authorities to crack down on acts of violence with impunity.
The protesters earlier threatened to march on the private residence of Prem, whom they blame for initiating the coup, and to surround Government House, the seat of Thailand’s administration.
Saturday morning, an estimated 4,000 UDD followers showed up outside Prem’s country home in Nakorn Ratchasima, 350 km northeast of Bangkok, but called off their protest when they confronted an army guard and were informed that the royal adviser and senior statesman, who was prime minister from 1980 to 1988, was not there.
Thaksin, a divisive figure in Thai politics who used populist policies to capture wide support from the country’s poor, has reportedly urged restraint from his supporters at this weekend’s demonstration, according to intelligence sources.
Deputy government spokesman Watchara Kannikar said Thaksin told the UDD to “save energy and funds” for a larger demonstration during the upcoming summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations next month, The Nation newspaper reported.
Thaksin, who faces a two-year sentence in Thailand on abuse of power charges, has been living in self-imposed exile since August last year, but he remains the de-facto leader of the Puea Thai opposition party and the main financier of the UDD.
The tense security situation was exacerbated by Abhisit’s plans to depart Sunday to attend the UN General Assembly in New York and a follow-up summit of the Group of 20 nations in Pittsburgh, returning to Thailand Sep 27.
The bloodless 2006 coup was carried out when Thaksin was in New York attending the annual UN assembly.
Political observers deemed a coup against Abhisit as unlikely because he has the backing of the military establishment.
“I can reassure everyone that there will be no coup,” the army’s commander-in-chief General Anupong Paojinda, said Friday. “Absolutely no coup.”
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