Tense Thailand prepares for parliament march
Agence France-Presse | 11/23/2008 5:54 PM
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BANGKOK - Thousands of Thai protesters gathered Sunday for a rally they say will be the final push in a six-month campaign to topple the government, putting the nation on edge after a week of escalating violence.
Calls for the fresh demonstration and a march to parliament ahead of a session Monday came after a string of attacks at Government House -- the prime minister's cabinet offices which protesters have occupied since late August.
"I am confident in the strength of the people," said anti-government leader Chamlong Srimuang. "We will go to parliament to seal off every side tomorrow (Monday), starting early in the morning."
Thai television showed images of police manning steel barricades outside Bangkok's parliament building and firetrucks parked nearby, while eyewitnesses said thousands of protesters had gathered at Government House.
About 2,000 police have been deployed, officials said, while nearly 2,000 troops are on stand-by to prevent a repeat of street battles outside parliament last month which left two protesters dead and nearly 500 people injured.
"Prime Minister Somchai (Wongsawat) has asked people not to join the demonstration or seal off or occupy the parliament buildings where lawmakers will meet," said government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar.
"The army has prepared about 21 companies to help police take care of the situation. The government will not use force or weapons to disperse the demonstration (but) parliament will meet as planned."
On Thursday, one protester was killed and 29 wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded in the middle of Government House protest site, while on Saturday eight protesters were injured by a similar bomb.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group has blamed the government for both attacks, and has called for supporters to join them Sunday for a "last battle" against the administration.
The government has denied any link to the recent attacks, and Somchai has promised a swift police investigation.
The PAD claim the ruling People Power Party elected last December is running Thailand on behalf of Thaksin Shinawatra, the premier ousted in a 2006 coup who was last month sentenced to two years in jail on corruption charges.
At Government House -- a Venetian-style complex where dignitaries once walked the lawns now strewn with PAD supporters' make-shift beds -- the mood was lively, with the swelling crowd raring to go.
"I was injured when we were at parliament last time," said 50-year-old Wut Vilairak, who travelled to Bangkok from the countryside.
"I return to fight for the country. I am ready to be on the front line again and I believe we will win this battle."
While a sea of people dressed in yellow -- the colour linked to the Thai king, to whom the PAD claim loyalty -- milled around Government House, their detractors in red and white shirts gathered at a temple just outside Bangkok.
Police said about 10,000 pro-Thaksin supporters had come out to back the government, but leaders of that movement told AFP they had no intention of locking horns with the PAD.
"We will not support anyone who wants to go to parliament. We don't want a clash," said pro-government coordinator Chinawat Haboonnak.
Thaksin fled the country in August but a power battle is raging between those who support the former leader and the old power elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy who want to purge Thailand of his influence.
The PAD launched their campaign in late May and about 1,000 anti-Thaksin protesters have been camped out at Government House since late August.
Protest leaders have said that loyalists from the south were flocking to Bangkok on Sunday. Thaksin's support base is in the poorer northeast.
Police would not estimate how many people had gathered at Government House as they are unable to enter the fortified compound.
The last march aimed at preventing a parliament session on October 7 erupted into the worst street violence Bangkok had seen in 16 years, as police fired tear gas and clashed with rowdy PAD protesters.
