TENS OF thousands of Red Shirts took to the streets of the Thai capital, Bangkok, yesterday to demand the release of their leaders, who have been jailed since deadly clashes between troops and demonstrators eight months ago.
It was the first demonstration since a state of emergency was lifted last month. The turnout shows that the opposition movement, many of them supporters of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, still has support, especially among farmers and the urban poor.
About 30,000 people marched to mourn those killed in the violence last April and May and to lobby for their leaders’ release, saying their detention was unlawful. More than 1,000 police were deployed to maintain security at the rally.
The Red Shirts marched from two locations which were flashpoints in the fighting last year, in which 91 were killed and more than 1,800 were wounded.
Jatuporn Prompan, a Red Shirt leader who avoided arrest because he has parliamentary immunity, vowed to hold “frequent and symbolic gatherings” twice a month, a change from the large sit-in last year that prompted a crackdown.
“We have learned a lesson that big gatherings will not lead to the result we want,” Mr Jatuporn said.
They gathered at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok’s old quarter before proceeding to a shopping area at the Ratchaprasong intersection where they massed outside Southeast Asia’s second-biggest shopping mall, Central World, which they occupied for seven weeks last April and May.
Once the leadership announced on May 19th that they were abandoning their campaign, the mall and other buildings were set ablaze.
Many issues the demonstrators wanted settled remain unresolved.
Prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has hinted at May or June for elections but others within his ruling Democrat party are reluctant to set a date for the polls.
