Pro-Thaksin Red Shirts Vow to Rally until PM Calls an Election

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

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UDD Will Rally Until Abhisit Calls an Election

 

Red-Shirts to Start Gathering on Sunday

 

By: Post Reporters and TNA

Published: 26/12/2008 at 12:00 AM

 

Anti-government forces yesterday promised to begin a mass rally that would continue until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calls a general election.

 

Leaders of the red-clad pro-Thaksin Shinawatra group, the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), said they would start their demonstration on Sunday, the day before the government is due to deliver its policy statement to parliament. It would continue until the prime minister dissolved the House.

 

They said they did not believe Mr Abhisit and his cabinet would run the country honestly.

 

The UDD leaders and hosts of Truth Today, a political talk show recently removed from state-run television station NBT, said their protest would be peaceful.

 

Key UDD leader and veteran politician Veera Musikhapong, one of the Truth Today hosts, said the protest would start at Sanam Luang on Sunday about 3pm.

 

Supporters would show their disapproval of Mr Abhisit.

 

"Mr Abhisit is not qualified for the job as he avoided military conscription. His behaviour violates the constitution and the UDD cannot trust him to lead the country," Mr Veera said.

 

Puea Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan, another Truth Today host, said attempts to prevent UDD members in the provinces from joining the protest rally in Bangkok would not be successful.

 

Natthawut Saikua, a former government spokesman and leading UDD member, said a new strategy had been planned and a House dissolution was the only target.

 

Mr Natthawut said some UDD members would rally at parliament on Monday, but would not resort to the tactics used by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which seized Government House and both of Bangkok's airports.

 

Mr Abhisit said yesterday it was far too soon to think about setting a date for a general election.

 

The government's priorities were to turn the economy around and bring about peace and reconciliation. Only when the job was done would he consider whether to dissolve the House.

 

"I do not think it is necessary to fix the timeframe," said Mr Abhisit.

 

When the time was right power would be returned to the people, he said. People needed to be realistic. There were several factors to consider and several pressing matters, including political reform.

 

He dismissed concerns that conflict within the party over the distribution of cabinet seats could be his government's undoing. The government's stability would depend mainly on its ability to solve the country's problems, Mr Abhisit said.

 

If the government could not regain the confidence of the public and foreigners, its stability could be at risk.

 

The prime minister said he had impressed upon his cabinet ministers that they were working against time to achieve those aims and he required a total commitment from them.

 

He stressed that the government would press ahead with political reform and would bring in people acceptable to all sides to work together on the political reform.

 

Responding to a warning by social critic Prawase Wasi to beware of adopting the populist policies of the Thaksin government, Mr Abhisit said other countries had also taken necessary measures to jump-start their economy.

 

Failure to maintain the purchasing power of the people could lead to a severe economic slump, he said.

 

Dr Prawase warned that embracing Thaksin-style populist policies aimed at helping rural people could be "addictive" without proper management.

 

Mr Abhisit said urgent measures were needed to ensure people have ready money in their pockets. But disbursements must be controlled with a clear aim to generate returns.

 

He said his frequent interviews with the foreign press were necessary to clarify the country's situation to the world and win back foreign investor confidence.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart was confident the Abhisit administration would remain in power far longer than most people expected.

 

After the government's policy statement is delivered in parliament, dissident members within coalition parties, particularly the Democrats, could be tamed, he said. He was confident the military would not meddle in politics.

 

[Guest joseph44]

This COULD be worse than the Yellow-Shirt-Protests. Not directly for us expats or tourists, but to the country as a hole.

The Red shirts are spread out over the country and especially in the North and North East. IMHO these kind of protests will be more difficult to control.

 

 

[Gaybutton]

IMHO these kind of protests will be more difficult to control.

Not only that, but this time there probably will be an attempt to control. During the PAD protests nobody did much of anything to control any of it. If the Thai government wanted the police and/or military to intervene, they weren't listening. However, I agree with you that this round of protests could escalate into at least police intervention. I don't think Thailand wants to see airports or anything else that could cause serious disruption happen again.

 

I think Thailand is really beginning to feel the pinch. The first indicator, in my opinion, is the exchange rate. Only a couple days ago the US dollar to baht exchange rate was 34.3. This morning it opened at 34.53. At the moment I'm writing this, less than an hour after the opening rate, it's 34.71.

 

The next indicator, in my opinion, is the gay personals web sites. I like GayRomeo. For quite a while the ads I saw were the same ads that had been there for a long time. Now I'm suddenly starting to see a lot of new faces appearing on the personals sites. That tells me something.

 

The tourist industry is also beginning to really suffer. I'm hearing about more and more lay-offs and people either ending up out of a job or having their number of work days and hours cut back.

 

However, I'm still not seeing very many boys working the beaches. That surprises me. Maybe they can't even afford the bus fare and concession fees.