Fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday used his Twitter page to call on his supporters to join a mass anti-government rally, after a court seized most of his fortune.
Thaksin’s loyal “Red Shirts,” so-called for the clothes they wear, will gather in Bangkok next Sunday to demand the return of the populist leader, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, and that the government quit.
“I would like to urge those who love democracy, justice, equality and those who think that I have been bullied without mercy and humanity, to join the rally,” Thaksin wrote yesterday.
The Thai Supreme Court last month ordered the state seizure of most of Thaksin’s US$2.3 billion shares wealth that it ruled he accumulated illegally by abusing his power to benefit his telecoms firm.
He lives in Dubai to escape a two-year jail term from another corruption case. Several other graft charges are outstanding against him.
The Red Shirts say they expect up to 600,000 people to attend this month’s rallies, with people starting to gather from around the country on Friday before the main demonstration two days later.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said his trip to Australia would go ahead as planned From next Saturday through March 17 despite the rallies, but a slew of extra security measures are in place and he has said tougher laws may be invoked.
Thailand’s pro and anti-Thaksin camps have both conducted destabilizing street campaigns since the twice-elected tycoon was ousted, with some of the demonstrations turning violent.
Red Shirt riots in April derailed a major Asian summit and left two people dead.
Thailand’s social rifts sharply divide its Thaksin-loving poorer communities, largely in the north and northeast rural regions, from those in the Bangkok-based elite among the military, palace and bureaucracy.
Meanwhile, Abhisit said on Friday he would go ahead with a trip to Australia next week even though the visit coincides with mass anti-government rallies at home.
Thaksin supporters, known as “Red Shirts” because of their usual garb, will gather in Bangkok next Sunday after a court ordered the seizure of most of Thaksin’s US$2.3 billion fortune.
Abhisit said he would carry on as planned with his March 13 to March 17 trip to Australia despite the rallies, adding that he would assign Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban to oversee events at home.
“But I will closely monitor the situation,” Abhisit said.
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