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Thai 'Yellow Shirt' protesters gather in Bangkok
Agence France Presse - August 7, 2010
Bangkok – Thai royalist "Yellow Shirts" rallied in Bangkok on Saturday as the influential movement seeks to pressure the government over a territorial row with Cambodia.
Thai police said around 1,200 people – many wearing yellow and waving national flags – gathered at a sports stadium after protesters shied away from confrontation with authorities by abandoning plans to meet at Government House.
Political gatherings of more than five people are banned under a state of emergency imposed in Bangkok in April during mass anti-government protests.
The Yellows, known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), have previously allied themselves with the current Thai political leadership but the protest is the latest sign that the group is flexing its political muscle.
Last minute talks with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva secured the venue compromise, although around 300 demonstrators did turn up at the government compound, and the Thai leader is now expected to speak at the rally.
Chamlong Srimuang, a senior PAD leader, told reporters that demonstrators simply wanted to press the government for information on its progress on the thorny Cambodian land issue. "Today is not a protest against government," he said.
The PAD has criticised the governing Democrat party for signing up to a deal with Thailand's neighbour in 2000 that the Yellows believe paved the way for recognition of a Cambodian land claim.
The group has demanded that Thailand tear up the memorandum of understanding, eject Cambodian citizens from the disputed 4.6 square kilometre (1.8 square mile) area, and try to regain control of the Preah Vihear temple.
The Yellow Shirts, who are backed by the Bangkok-based elite, are a force to be reckoned with in Thailand's colour-coded political landscape.
Rallies in 2006 helped trigger the coup that unseated fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, hero of the mostly poor, working class "Red Shirts", whose mass protests in Bangkok this year culminated in deadly clashes with troops.
Red Shirts have complained of double standards in the way authorities treat their movement.
While many Red leaders are in prison following their rally – during which about 90 people died and nearly 1,900 were injured – there has been little action against Yellows over a 2008 airport siege that left thousands stranded.
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