THAILAND: Red shirt villages spring up in parts of northeast ahead of the upcoming July 3 general election

Record ID: 738115

  • Title: THAILAND: Red shirt villages spring up in parts of northeast ahead of the upcoming July 3 general election
  • Date: 7th June 2011
  • Summary: KONGCHAI CHAIKANG AND HIS FAMILY INSIDE HIS HOUSE WITH A LARGE PHOTO OF THAKSIN ON A WALL THAKSIN'S PHOTO KONGCHAI AND HIS FAMILY SITTING OUTSIDE HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 22nd June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand, Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6LG5HPAH9KE9RIBAG5VYCPJ35
  • Story Text: Its brilliant green rice paddies, thatched-roof huts and overgrown jungle resemble most rural villages in northeast Thailand, but the bright red sign looming over a dusty road in a quiet grove of eucalyptus trees is something different.
    "Red Shirt Village for Democracy," it reads, proclaiming its allegiance to the red-shirted anti-government movement whose protests paralysed Bangkok last year and sparked a bloody military crackdown that ended with 91 people killed and hundreds of red-shirt activists arrested.
    Kongchai Chaikang, chief of Nong Hu Ling, a village of 350 people in Udon Thani province, about 450 km (280 miles) northeast of Bangkok took part in the three-month rally with his wife last year.
    He said half of the villagers took turns to head to Bangkok rally ground until the May 19 crackdown.
    Like most of red shirts allies, Kongchai was scared to wear red shirt, after what happened in Bangkok. Villagers feared they would be harassed by police or followed by plainclothes officers.
    "All of the leaders and supporters in the villages say they are not going to do the same mass gathering again. But, if we really need to go in (to Bangkok), we should be very, very careful," Kongchai said.
    Villagers marched wearing their red shirts through the village to erect Thaksin's billboard at the entrance to proclaim their symbolic of struggle for democracy.
    At least 320 villages in the northeast provinces of Udon Thani and Khon Kaen have designated themselves "Red Shirt Villages" through regional offices of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), as the movement is formally known.
    The villages and their defiance also highlight the failure of a year-long national reconciliation effort, heightening concerns that the losers of the election will not accept the results, a tangible risk in a country scarred by 18 coups since the 1930s and five years of sporadic unrest.
    "After we lost our struggle on April 10 and May 19, we are now trying to bring together every red shirt group in Udon Thani to keep our unity with new way of struggle," said Arnon Sannan, the secretary general for United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).
    In total, 129 red-shirt villages have been launched in Udon Thani and another 100 in neighbouring Khon Kaen, he said. The bigger goal, he added, are entire red districts and provinces.
    The villages are a regional initiative not endorsed by top red-shirt leaders in Bangkok, underlining fissures in the anti-government movement.
    In Sam Prao, a sub-district in Udon Thani province, red-shirted supporters gathered on Thursday (June 2) to take part in another opening of a "red shirts" village.
    They first began with a traditional ceremony "Bai Sri Soo Kwan", which requires a Brahman priest to lead the group in a prayer to boost the morale and bless the village.
    The villagers then tie red strings on each other's wrist to signify the strengthening of their relationship.
    "Red shirts" villages coordinator, Niyom Piwfai, a 42 year old farmer said he believed democracy would allow the country to be united.
    "If the election is being held accordingly to the system (democracy), then there won't be any obstacle to the reconciliation. Villagers here want the country to be united too," Niyom said.
    The polarisation comes at a delicate time as Thailand's unifying figure for six decades, 83-year King Bhumibol Adulyadej, remains in hospital, his semi-divine aura fading as the crown, technically above politics, becomes dragged into the crisis, its name often invoked to rally one side against the other.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
Register