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Tense Thailand prepares for parliament march
Agence France Presse - November 23, 2008
Thousands of Thai protesters gathered Sunday for a rally they say will be the final push in a six-month campaign to topple the government, putting the nation on edge after a week of escalating violence.
Calls for the fresh demonstration and a march to parliament ahead of a session Monday came after a string of attacks at Government House – the prime minister's cabinet offices which protesters have occupied since late August.
"I am confident in the strength of the people. We will definitely go to parliament," said anti-government leader Chamlong Srimuang. Local media said the march was planned for early Monday.
Thai television showed images of police manning steel barricades outside Bangkok's parliament building and firetrucks parked nearby, while eyewitnesses said thousands of protesters had gathered at Government House.
Officials said nearly 2,000 soldiers were on stand-by if the police needed help to prevent a repeat of bloody street battles outside parliament last month which left two protesters dead and nearly 500 people injured.
"Prime Minister Somchai (Wongsawat) has asked people not to join the demonstration or seal off or occupy the parliament buildings where lawmakers will meet," said government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar.
"The army has prepared about 21 companies to help police take care of the situation. The government will not use force or weapons to disperse the demonstration (but) parliament will meet as planned."
On Thursday, one protester was killed and 29 wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded in the middle of Government House protest site, while on Saturday eight protesters were injured by a similar bomb.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group has blamed the government for both attacks, and has called for supporters to join them Sunday for a "last battle" against the administration.
The government has denied any link to the recent attacks, and Somchai has promised a swift police investigation.
The PAD claim the ruling People Power Party elected last December is running Thailand on behalf of Thaksin Shinawatra, the premier ousted in a 2006 coup who was last month sentenced to two years in jail on corruption charges.
While a sea of people dressed in yellow – the colour linked to the Thai king, to whom the PAD claim loyalty – prepared for their march at Government House, their detractors in red and white shirts gathered elsewhere.
Police said about 10,000 pro-Thaksin supporters had descended on a Buddhist temple just outside Bangkok to support the government. Leaders of that movement told AFP they had no intention of locking horns with the PAD.
"We will not support anyone who wants to go to parliament. We don't want a clash," said pro-government coordinator Chinawat Haboonnak.
Thaksin fled the country in August but a power battle is raging between those who support the charismatic former leader and the old power elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy who want to purge Thailand of his influence.
The PAD launched their campaign in May and about 1,000 anti-Thaksin protesters have been camped out at Government House since late August.
Anchalee Paireerak, a spokeswoman for the PAD, told cheering crowds at the site that PAD loyalists from the south were flocking to Bangkok. Thaksin's support base, meanwhile, is in the poorer northeast.
Police would not estimate how many people had gathered at Government House on Sunday as they are unable to enter the fortified compound.
The last march aimed at preventing a parliament session on October 7 erupted into the worst street violence Bangkok had seen in 16 years, as police fired tear gas and clashed with rowdy PAD protesters.
Those clashes and the recent bomb attacks in and around Government House have raised fears of more bloodshed this week, with the English-language Nation newspaper saying Sunday "the fate of the country hangs in the balance."
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