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Thai 'red shirts' vow to step up Bangkok protest
Source: Agencies |
April 7, 2010, Wednesday
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ANTI-GOVERNMENT protesters say they will take their mass rally in Bangkok's to "another level" today as pressure mounts on Thailand's prime minister to end a tense five-day standoff in the main commercial district.
Red-shirted supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were tight-lipped about their plans, but said they would surprise the military-backed government with new moves to force an election after nearly four weeks of sporadic protests. Tens of thousands of the "red shirts" have occupied Bangkok's Rachaprasong intersection, an area lined with luxury hotels and department stores, since Saturday, rejecting demands by the government to leave an area vital to high-end retail and tourism.
"We will take it to the next level," protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, told the crowd late on Tuesday. "We can't say what we will do, we won't give the government chance to prepare."
Investors have remained confident Thailand's government, with its support from the military's top brass and the country's royalist establishment, will survive the increasingly bold showdown with the mostly rural and working-class protesters.
Tuesday was a market holiday, but in the five weeks through Monday, foreign investors had pumped more than US$1.6 billion into Thailand's stock market, which is up more than 80 percent over the past 12 months, Asia's third-best performer.
But there is concern the crisis could squeeze longer-term foreign direct investment (FDI), which was has been volatile since the crisis began with a 2006 military coup that ousted the twice-elected Thaksin after allegations of corruption.
"I've been getting a sense for the first time in the more than three years since the coup that FDI -- including our client base -- is really taking a hard look at Thailand long-term because of this," said Roberto Herrera-Lim, an analyst at consulting firm Eurasia Group.
"They see that the conflict is much deeper than the elite conflict of the past."
DIALOGUE NEEDED
Abhisit is facing pressure from Bangkok's elites and middle classes and even his own government to halt the rally, but has held back to avert a confrontation that many believe would cause even greater damage. Threats to arrest the protesters have not been carried out, emboldening the movement.
"The police, the government and myself are still very committed to enforce the law and solve the problem," Abhisit said in a televised national address yesterday. "We want to see the country being peaceful."
Most analysts say further dialogue is Abhisit's only way out, but protest leaders have refused.
The "red shirts" have taken aim of the urbane, Oxford and Eton-educated economist, who they see as a frontman for an unelected elite establishment and military that is secretly intervening in politics and operating with impunity.
They say Abhisit, who came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote after the courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin ruling party, should call an election and let the people choose their government. "Red shirt" leaders have vowed to honour the result.
The rally has sustained crowds of tens of thousands since it began 26 days ago, protesting on a platform of "double standards" and marginalisation in a country with one of the highest levels of economic disparity in Asia.
Many are loyal to Thaksin, seeing him as Thailand's first, and only, pro-poor prime minister.
"The opposition leaders now have claim to partial moral authority based on the grievances of rural folk and the downtrodden," said Thak Chaloemtiarana, a Thai academic at Cornell University in the United States.
The mostly rural movement has won new support from Bangkok's urban poor but has angered middle classes, many of whom regard the "red shirts" as misguided slaves to Thaksin, a wily telecoms tycoon who fled into exile to avoid a jail term for graft.
But the protesters risk losing support if shops stay shut, high-end hotels such the Four Seasons and Hyatt remain blocked, tourists leave and traffic remains paralysed, analysts said.
"They run the risk of this backfiring," said Joshua Kurlantzick of the US-based think tank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"At some point they are going to seriously anger Bangkokians. They don't want to totally alienate Bangkok opinion, especially the opinion of working class people in the capital whose jobs might be affected."
Red-shirted supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra were tight-lipped about their plans, but said they would surprise the military-backed government with new moves to force an election after nearly four weeks of sporadic protests. Tens of thousands of the "red shirts" have occupied Bangkok's Rachaprasong intersection, an area lined with luxury hotels and department stores, since Saturday, rejecting demands by the government to leave an area vital to high-end retail and tourism.
"We will take it to the next level," protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, told the crowd late on Tuesday. "We can't say what we will do, we won't give the government chance to prepare."
Investors have remained confident Thailand's government, with its support from the military's top brass and the country's royalist establishment, will survive the increasingly bold showdown with the mostly rural and working-class protesters.
Tuesday was a market holiday, but in the five weeks through Monday, foreign investors had pumped more than US$1.6 billion into Thailand's stock market, which is up more than 80 percent over the past 12 months, Asia's third-best performer.
But there is concern the crisis could squeeze longer-term foreign direct investment (FDI), which was has been volatile since the crisis began with a 2006 military coup that ousted the twice-elected Thaksin after allegations of corruption.
"I've been getting a sense for the first time in the more than three years since the coup that FDI -- including our client base -- is really taking a hard look at Thailand long-term because of this," said Roberto Herrera-Lim, an analyst at consulting firm Eurasia Group.
"They see that the conflict is much deeper than the elite conflict of the past."
DIALOGUE NEEDED
Abhisit is facing pressure from Bangkok's elites and middle classes and even his own government to halt the rally, but has held back to avert a confrontation that many believe would cause even greater damage. Threats to arrest the protesters have not been carried out, emboldening the movement.
"The police, the government and myself are still very committed to enforce the law and solve the problem," Abhisit said in a televised national address yesterday. "We want to see the country being peaceful."
Most analysts say further dialogue is Abhisit's only way out, but protest leaders have refused.
The "red shirts" have taken aim of the urbane, Oxford and Eton-educated economist, who they see as a frontman for an unelected elite establishment and military that is secretly intervening in politics and operating with impunity.
They say Abhisit, who came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote after the courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin ruling party, should call an election and let the people choose their government. "Red shirt" leaders have vowed to honour the result.
The rally has sustained crowds of tens of thousands since it began 26 days ago, protesting on a platform of "double standards" and marginalisation in a country with one of the highest levels of economic disparity in Asia.
Many are loyal to Thaksin, seeing him as Thailand's first, and only, pro-poor prime minister.
"The opposition leaders now have claim to partial moral authority based on the grievances of rural folk and the downtrodden," said Thak Chaloemtiarana, a Thai academic at Cornell University in the United States.
The mostly rural movement has won new support from Bangkok's urban poor but has angered middle classes, many of whom regard the "red shirts" as misguided slaves to Thaksin, a wily telecoms tycoon who fled into exile to avoid a jail term for graft.
But the protesters risk losing support if shops stay shut, high-end hotels such the Four Seasons and Hyatt remain blocked, tourists leave and traffic remains paralysed, analysts said.
"They run the risk of this backfiring," said Joshua Kurlantzick of the US-based think tank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"At some point they are going to seriously anger Bangkokians. They don't want to totally alienate Bangkok opinion, especially the opinion of working class people in the capital whose jobs might be affected."
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