THAILAND: Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hold mass rally to mark the 2006 coup anniversary

Record ID: 212645

  • Title: THAILAND: Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hold mass rally to mark the 2006 coup anniversary
  • Date: 20th September 2009
  • Summary: SINGER DANCING ON STAGE WHILE SUPPORTERS LISTEN AND DANCE MORE OF SUPPORTERS DANCING PICTURE OF THAKSIN HANGING ON SUPPORTER'S NECK WOMAN SAYING " I WANT THAKSIN TO COME BACK SOON AND I WANT DEMOCRACY BACK" MORE OF SUPPORTERS DANCING
  • Embargoed: 5th October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1E782E93WIIVZK2CBD9QRQ59I
  • Story Text: Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra flocked to Bangkok's Royal Plaza on Saturday (September 19) to attend a rally commemorating the third anniversary of the military coup which forced him from office and into exile.
    About 30,000 anti-government protestors who travelled from around the country and wore red shirts, carried placards and pictures of former Thaksin.
    "Today we are here to protest the third anniversary of the coup that happened on September 19, 2006. We just want to present the consequences we are suffering as a result of the coup in our country. Today's activity is only a peaceful rally without any weapons at the Royal Plaza and we are exercising our rights according to the constitution," said the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leader,Jatuporn Prompan.
    "Red shirt" leaders said the rally would be finished by midnight if the government does not use any force to disperse the crowd.
    Security was very tight at the rally venue after the government imposed the Internal Security Act to secure the rally site.
    Thousands of police and military in anti-riot gear, were deployed to maintain peace. So far, there have been no reports of violence.
    The former prime minister was convicted last year by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on conflict of interest charges in relation to a land purchase scandal.
    Earlier this year, hundreds of red shirt protestors stormed an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in the Thai beach resort Pattaya. The protest spread to Bangkok where troops were called in to bring Thaksin supporters under control and to remove them from Government House which they had been occupying for months.
    In August, supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra submitted a petition, requesting a royal pardon for the fugitive politicians including Thaksin and his former party members, but a pardon has not been granted.
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