Bangkok faces big protest rally in support of ex-PM Thaksin

Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra have begun to assemble on Friday in their trademark red shirts ahead of weekend protests aimed at toppling the government, reports from Bangkok said.

Some 4,000 protesters began early demonstrations in the capital, chanting incantations for good luck, while at least 30,000 others gathered in the rural north before starting their journey to Bangkok for the main rally on Sunday.

Organisers insist the demonstrations will be non-violent, but the government is rolling out a 50,000-strong security force and has enacted a tough security law that allows the authorities to impose curfews and limit movements.

Coming two weeks after Thailand's top court confiscated 1.4 billion dollars of Thaksin's assets, the protests are the latest chapter in a political crisis that has beset Thailand since Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup. "I offer my moral support to the Red Shirts who are making a sacrifice and are coming out to write history today," Thaksin said on a Twitter posting. He lives abroad, mostly in Dubai, to avoid a jail term for corruption at home.

About 20,000 protesters had left Thaksin's home city Chiang Mai for Bangkok, according to Reds' leader Petchawat Wattanapongsirikul, while 10,000 had departed Udon Thani in the northeast, said another leader, Kwanchai Praipana. Thousands of others had gathered in other provinces but exact numbers were not yet available, organisers and officials said.

The protest is set to be the biggest since the Red Shirts rioted in Bangkok in April, leaving two dead and scores injured. Organisers have dubbed it a "million-man march" though the government predicts around 100,000 will turn up.

The Red Shirts mainly represent Thailand's rural poor who benefited from Thaksin's populist policies and say the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is elitist, military-backed and has ignored their democratic rights. They want Abhisit to stand down and call new elections, but he rejected their call on Friday. "I will only dissolve parliament for the common good, not just for temporary peace, so my government will continue to work," said Abhisit, who cancelled a weekend trip to Australia because of the looming rally.

Thaksin, meanwhile, is still loathed by the rival royalist "Yellow Shirts" backed by Bangkok's establishment, who accuse him of corruption and of insufficient loyalty to the revered royal family. Thaksin, who made his fortune in telecommunications, has been rallying his supporters via text messages, videolink and his Twitter page.

Thirty-five countries have issued some form of warning to visitors to the kingdom because of the protests, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

- Asian Tribune -