Red shirts rally to show their support to Thaksin
Supporters of the ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in Bangkok in their biggest protest since sparking clashes two months ago. More than 20,000 of them packed in a ground around the size of two football grounds raving heavy rain.
Nearly 2000 policemen and soldiers were on standby but they maintained discreet presence at the rally. The government had warned the red shirts that any attempt to lock government house or instigate any violence would not be tolerated and hard action would be taken.
The rally was carried out in order to send the signal that the movement is still a force to reckon with and further to lift the morale of the supporters.
The ex Prime Minster, Thaksin who was blamed for instigating riots by “red shirt” demonstrators in April, addressed the crowd by telephone and accused the present government of mismanaging the economy, raising the taxes and plunging the poor into debt.
He pledged his loyalty to his supporters and called for all Thai’s to put aside their differences. The “red shirts” are diehard supporters of Thaksin and Puea Thai party that he backs from outside the country.
Puea Thai’s power base is mainly drawn from millions of rural and urban poor who loved Thaksin’s populist policies and gave him two landslide election victories.