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Protests and counter-protests continue in Bangkok
Associated Press - April 3, 2010
Kinan Suchaovanich, Bangkok – Thousands of anti-government protesters launched their fourth weekend demonstration in the Thai capital on Saturday, groping for tactics that have yet to force the prime minister to dissolve Parliament and call new elections.
The mainly poor, rural Thais that make up the so-called Red Shirts were concentrating their Saturday protests in the heart of commercial Bangkok, studded with glitzy shopping malls and upscale hotels. They previously failed to oust the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva through both mass peaceful marches and talks with government leaders.
Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, said the demonstration would continue through Monday.
"Today's another day when commoners will declare war to bring democracy to the country. There is no end until we win this battle," he said as marchers made their way toward the shopping zone, beating drums and chanting "Dissolve Parliament."
Department stores, normally bursting with weekend shoppers, as well as office buildings, were closed for security reasons as some 10,000 protesters gathered in the area, according to Metropolitan Police spokesman Piya Utayo. He said the total number of demonstrators, including those in other parts of the city and on the move, peaked at nearly 55,000.
Protesters swarmed around a Porsche car, angrily smashing its windows after its driver bulldozed a line of stationary motorcycles the group had parked. His motive was not known.
Riot police guarding the InterContinental Hotel said the luxury vehicle finally hit a fire hydrant, and the driver battled through a group of demonstrators before police intervened and took him into the hotel. Police found a handgun in the car.
"This is just what's wrong with this country. A rich man can drive into protesters and get away," said Sakda, a factory worker from suburban Bangkok. He declined to give his full name.
The Red Shirt movement – known formally as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship – consists largely of supporters of ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-democracy activists who opposed a 2006 military coup which ousted Thaksin.
Protest leaders have portrayed the demonstrations as a struggle between Thailand's impoverished, mainly rural masses – who benefited from Thaksin policies of cheap health care and low-interest village loans – and a Bangkok-based elite impervious to their plight.
Thaksin's allies won elections in December 2007, but two resulting governments were forced out by court rulings. A parliamentary vote brought Abhisit's party to power in December 2008. The Red Shirts say his rule is undemocratic and that only new elections can restore integrity to Thai democracy.
Abhisit must call a new election by the end of 2011, and many believe Thaksin's allies are likely to win – which could spark new protests by Thaksin's opponents.
Residents of the sprawling Thai capital are divided in their view of the Red Shirts, and some are merely fed up with the loss of business, especially in tourism, and traffic jams the demonstrations have caused.
The protesters, whose numbers have at times swelled to some 100,000, have received support from lower middle-class residents, many of them migrants from rural areas, and are detested by many in professional, business and senior government ranks.
However, some in the middle and upper classes have expressed sympathy for the Red Shirts' demands for a better economic deal and an end to inequalities in Thai society, but do not support the movement outright because Thaksin is its key shadow leader.
Thaksin, a multimillionaire convicted of corruption and abuse of power, is a fugitive abroad but encourages the Red Shirts with frequent messages espousing democracy.
His six years in office were also riddled by nepotism and an erosion of democratic institutions.
On Friday, Thailand's tourism industry called on the government and its Red Shirt opponents to make peace and find a way to stop mass street protests that they say are scaring away tourists.
Representatives from the tourism industry advertised their message by briefly staging their own protest at a central Bangkok park on Friday afternoon.
"Please Stop Hurting Tourism Thailand," read a large sign carried by a group of hotel cooks in their white kitchen attire. The rally drew about 100 people, including hotel concierges in their uniforms.
Red-shirted anti-government protesters have been camped in the historic district of Bangkok since March 12. To press demands for new elections, they have blocked major roads, snarled traffic and raised concerns of violence that have prompted several dozen countries to issue travel warnings.
The rallies have dealt the latest blow to Thailand's key tourism industry, which has suffered through Thailand's political crisis since 2006.
"The demonstrations – with (protesters) blocking the roads – have disturbed many tourists. It damages the country's image and paralyzes the economy," said Apichart Sankary, an adviser to the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations.
"The decline has reached a point where we risk losing visitors for the long term," Apichart said. "We want all sides to find a way out of this mess as quickly as possible."
Earlier, another anti-protest group – dressed in pink shirts – held a demonstration in Bangkok's Lumpini Park, where the tourism rally was also held later in the day.
The so-called pink shirts are pro-government and say they are frustrated by the Red Shirts' noisy, traffic-clogging protests that are hurting Bangkok businesses.
Hotels nationwide reported an average of 40 percent occupancy last month, down from the typical March average of 75 percent occupancy, said Prakij Chin-amornpong, chairman of the Thai Hotels Association, which represents 653 hotels nationwide.
Last year's March average was lower than usual at 50 percent occupancy, also due to the political crisis, he said.
Hotels in Bangkok were among hardest hit, with tourists trying to avoid the capital, he said. Hotels on the beach island of Phuket and other places with international airports have fared better, he added.
Andrew Jacka, president of the Thai Spa Association, attended Friday's rally waving a Thai flag and wearing a bandanna with the Thai national colors around his forehead.
"Thai tourism is hurting," he said, calling himself apolitical but concerned for Thailand. "Since there seems to be no conclusion in sight to the political problem, it's the ordinary people that have to stand up and voice their concerns."
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