Thai PM rejects rally ultimatum

15 Mar 2010, 6:36 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Thailand's PM has rejected an ultimatum by tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters to call snap elections.

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Thailand's prime minister, backed by a formidable military force, has rejected an ultimatum to dissolve Parliament as tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters vowed to continue their push to oust the government.

In the first reported violence of the protests, two soldiers were wounded on Monday when four grenades exploded inside an army headquarters ringed by the demonstrators, said army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

He did not blame the demonstrators but said there has been intelligence that some elements had been planning such attacks. The grenades were fired from an M-79 launcher, he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the key target of the massive demonstration, earlier said he could not give in to the protesters' demand to dissolve Parliament by midday on Monday but left room for compromise.

The demonstrators marshalled around the heavily defended 11th Infantry Regiment headquarters where Abhisit has been hunkered down in recent days, but after the deadline passed they began a march back to their main encampment.

A protest leader, Veera Musikapong, told a sea of so-called Red Shirts around the regimental compound that new methods would be used to pressure the government, but he gave no details.

"Asking for the dissolution of Parliament before noon in exchange for a halt to the demonstrations, we all agreed it can't be done. However, it doesn't mean the government coalition parties and I won't listen to their ideas," Abhisit said on nationwide television.

Some 100,000 Red Shirt protesters have been camped out along a boulevard in the old part of Bangkok. A force of more than 50,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel has been mobilised in the capital area.

"Our goal is not to remain entrenched in the government. Like all Thais, we'd like to see the country move forward," Abhisit said. "The government must listen to the demonstrators. Although the demand can't be met by noon, we are willing to hear what they say."

With banners waving, thousands of the protesters piled into trucks, rode motorcycles or trudged on foot toward the barbed-wire ringed regimental compound where soldiers played songs composed by the Thai king in a bid to keep things calm. They began to leave a few hours later.

The troops guarding the headquarters were in full combat gear but no weapons were visible except short-barrelled rifles for firing tear gas.

City authorities feared traffic chaos in areas of the sprawling capital, but in other quarters, traffic was surprisingly light as many office workers stayed home for fear of violence. Some international schools were closed.

But the protest, one of the largest staged in recent years, has proved peaceful.

The protesters, formally grouped as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, have been flexible in their tactics and deadlines, but are demanding Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call new elections, which they believe will restore their political allies to power.

They believe Abhisit took office illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional ruling class who were alarmed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's popularity, particularly among the poor. Thaksin, who became prime minister in 2001 and whose party easily won two elections, was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

Thaksin spoke to the rally by video link on Sunday night, urging the crowd to continue their struggle peacefully, and emphasising that he considered the so-called "ammart," or elite, the enemy. Thaksin himself is a billionaire businessman who fled Thailand in 2008 ahead of being convicted for a conflict of interest violation and sentenced to two years in jail.

"The people who caused the problems in the country these days are the ruling elites," declared Thaksin, speaking from an undisclosed location outside of Thailand. "To solve problems related to democracy, equality and justice - the ruling elites won't be able to do that because they don't have the conscience. The people will have to do it."

He suggested that if he returned to power, he would redistribute wealth and keep Thailand economically competitive with its neighbours.

The protest had been billed as a "million man march," but protest leader Natthawut Saikua said he believed more than a half million people turned up, while estimates from the police and other government agencies ranged from 50,000 to 150,000.

Associated Press reporters said it was one of the biggest turnouts in the past five years of frequent protests, which would put it over the 100,000 mark.

The Red Shirts' last major protest in Bangkok last April deteriorated into rioting that left two people dead, more than 120 people injured and buses burned on major thoroughfares before the army quashed the unrest.

Thailand has been in constant political turmoil since early 2006, when anti-Thaksin demonstrations began. In 2008, when Thaksin's political allies came back to power for a year, his opponents occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months and seized Bangkok's two airports for a week.

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