As we approach the Feb. 26 court verdict in the Thaksin asset case, there has been much speculation — in the local media and from the Thai government — about upcoming Red Shirt protests. What form will the demonstrations take? When will they happen? Will they turn violent?
The Thai government has listed the steps it will take to control these potential gatherings. They will deploy, they say, tens of thousands of troops to keep order. There will be some 200 checkpoints throughout Bangkok. And there will be security forces in place in the north and northeast, Thaksin’s power base. The government says that there are elements of the Red Shirt camp that intend to use violence to bring Thaksin back to power.
The Red Shirts, for their part, have made references to assembling a million protesters in Bangkok. But no date for a potential demonstration has been announced publicly. The Red Shirts say that their movement is a peaceful one — despite the outburst of violence in April, 2009 — and that they merely plan to protest what they call double standards in Thailand. They say that in this country, influential people are able to break the law without repercussions. They chiefly point to the yellow-shirt (PAD) occupation of Bangkok’s airports in Nov., 2008, an act for which no one has been held accountable.
Here are a few stories I suggest consulting for more info.
- Reuters: “Violence a wild-card as Thailand braces for protests“
- IPS: “Rural Thailand Simmers with Anti-gov’t Rage“
- IPS: “Anti-gov’t Movement Opens Rural Minds through ‘Schools’“
- Straits Times: “Red Shirts Warn Thai Army to Stay Neutral.”
- Political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak in today’s Bangkok Post: “Reds are a force to reckon with.” (Read the whole thing.)
Image source: Bangkok Post.