Phuket reds, yellows ready to roll
PHUKET: Phuket’s yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters and their red-shirted opponents, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), will both be traveling to large gatherings in the near future.
The Phuket PAD will be heading to Bangkok to protest former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s appointment to a high-level advisory position by Cambodian premier Hun Sen.
The protest will take place at Sanam Luang on Sunday.
Phuket PAD co-ordinator Aparat Chartchutikumjorn said the island’s activists would definitely be attending the Bangkok protest.
“PAD representatives from 16 southern provinces will meet on Thursday to discuss where we will leave from, how many people will go and how we are going to get there. Then we will make an official announcement,” she said.
“I’ve already had a lot of calls about this, so I think a lot of people are going to go,” she said.
Ms Aparat said the protest wouldn’t be restricted to people in yellow shirts, however.
“Anyone in any color shirt who agrees with us can join the protest,” she said.
Meanwhile, Phuket UDD leader Sunthorn Toemarn applauded Mr Thaksin’s new appointment in Cambodia.
“It’s right and democratic,” she said. “It’s a good thing and we agree with it.”
The UDD would be heading to Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima province for a big meeting – including a phone in from Mr Thaksin. The rally will be hosted by the Bonanza Khao Yai Hotel on Saturday, he said.
Around a hundred red-shirts would be heading to the gathering in cars and vans, he said.
“But let’s wait and see if the government uses an emergency decree or not. They use the decree against the red shirts every time we have a meeting,” he said.
The government declared a state of emergency back in April, when riots by red-shirted UDD members turned parts of Bangkok into an urban battleground.
The decree banned gatherings of more than five people, stopped news reports deemed threatening to public order and allowed the government to use the army to end unrest.
— Atchaa Khamlo
