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Thai protesters begin massing
Reuters - March 12, 2010
Anti-government protesters began gathering in Bangkok on Friday for what they promise will be a non-violent "million-man march" in coming days to paralyse Thailand's capital and force the government to call elections.
About 50,000 security personnel were mobilised as several thousand supporters of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra began gathering at five key areas in Bangkok in one of the biggest challenges yet to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Protesters listened to speeches and music over loud-speakers while waiting for leaders to arrive in trucks which would be turned into makeshift stages. More plan to arrive over the weekend with hundreds of thousands expected on Sunday – a scale almost unprecedented in recent years.
Thai stock prices, which had risen for two straight days on foreign buying, were a touch weaker in thin volume in a reflection of some disquiet among retail investors.
Many businesses and schools were shut in the capital Bangkok while some companies allowed staff to work from home.
Armed guards stood at many banks and state buildings after government warnings of potential sabotage, including arson and bombings. Thousands of buses, trucks and farm vehicles were expected to converge from neighbouring provinces.
Economists caution that possible unrest could hurt some businesses and sap consumer confidence in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, possibly forcing the central bank to delay an expected rise in interest rates from record lows.
But the political turbulence has done little to stop foreign investors, who have snapped up about $500 million of Thai stocks this year and are more focused on a swift, export-led economic rebound in Southeast Asia's emerging markets.
Analysts doubt the protests will derail a rising trend in Thai stocks, which are among the cheapest in Asia as measured by price-to-earnings ratios even after surging 63 percent last year.
While the protests by the United Front For Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) will draw attention to the opposition Pheu Thai Party aligned with Thaksin, they are unlikely to lead to an immediate change of government, said Timothy Powdrill, a political risk analyst at consultancy Riskline ApS.
That's why foreign investors are still buying Thai stocks, he added, noting protests last April failed to derail the government even after sparking Thailand's worst street violence in 17 years. And crucially, the government has the support of the military's top brass, he said. "Like the UDD's 'last stand' in April 2009, the 'million-man march' may prove to be nothing of the kind and this stability of the regime offers encouragement to investors," he said.
Five-year bond yields fell by a modest one basis points to 3.51 percent as prices rose, largely in expectation protests could spill over into policymaking by forcing the Bank of Thailand to keep its benchmark rate at a record low of 1.25 percent until June or later. Neighbouring Malaysia raised interest rates last week.
Power to the people
Thailand's seemingly intractable political conflict pits the military, the urban elite and royalists, who wear the revered king's traditional colour of yellow at protests, against the mainly rural supporters of Thaksin, who say they have been disenfranchised and wear red.
The protesters say Abhisit came to power illegitimately, cobbling up a parliamentary coalition with the help of the military that toppled Thaksin in a 2006 bloodless coup.
"We want to tell Bangkok that all we want is the return of true democracy. We want the government to return power to the people and see who they actually want as their leaders," Veera Musikapong, one of the protest leaders, told Reuters.
Few expect a million protesters, but the prospect of hundreds of thousands flooding the streets has rattled nerves in the city of 15 million people and led many business to close their doors.
"There are all sorts of rumours going around about how it may turn violent so it is best to close, then wait and see," said Puangthong Limjitikul, an open-air restaurant owner in Bangkok.
Protesters accuse authorities of trying to fan the fears to justify a potential crackdown, but the government insists the threat of violence is real.
"We want to make sure we have enough forces to prevent any chaos. If we don't, the country will be damaged by those who may try to stir unrest," deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters.
Government House, which includes Abhisit's office, has been cordoned off. Authorities have closed several other roads near where protesters said they may march.
In 2008, a rival protest group sought to topple a Thaksin-allied government by seizing Government House for three months and shutting the country's international airport for eight days. The UDD insist they would not use the same tactics.
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