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CHADAMAS CHINMANEEVONG
Samak Sundaravej is never at a loss for words. ''PAD? They are just a bunch of gangsters, a street mob,'' says the fiery prime minister.
But walk among the thousands of people who pledge allegiance to the PAD and one sees a more nuanced picture, with middle-aged office workers cheering alongside elderly housewives, while wealthy socialites chat with singers and actors.
Why have these people come to sleep on the streets, endure dust and rain, fierce winds and poor sanitation under the PAD banner? Why are they willing to risk life and limb in an idealistic, but possibly futile attempt to overthrow an elected government?
When rank-and-file members listen to PAD leaders' briefings on how to cope with tear gas or pressure from the plastic shields of riot police, what are they thinking?
A 56-year-old motorcycle garage owner, who gave his name as Pongsakorn, said he was ready to die and spill blood for the country.
''This would be honour for my family. If the solution is violence, I believe that people here are ready,'' he said seriously. ''Today, bad guys gain encouragement because good people sit around. So, we must help together.''
Mr Pongsakorn journeyed from Chanthaburi with his friends. They have slept in tents on the sidewalk for three days. All watched ASTV, PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul's TV station, for months before coming to Bangkok last week.
Another PAD sympathiser, a female retiree, said plainly that she felt she was fighting for the future of Thailand.
''I am here because I am fighting for the country, not for Khun Sondhi or Khun Chamlong [Srimuang] like many people said,'' she says, her Gucci sunglasses askew as she runs along with the crowd. ''It's too bad there are so few students today. I think idealism is missing among today's younger generation.''
Late Thursday, tension within PAD was running high, as many expected a full-force push by the security forces to be inevitable.
Stern-faced men guarded each doorway to guard against undercover security forces infiltrating the crowd. Female volunteers, mostly elderly, were gathered together to form human chains to guard the seven doorways, hoping that even the police would still abide by Thai norms of propriety.
Outside Government House, the temporary shelters erected for PAD lie mostly empty, with the only occupants a number of elderly women exhausted from their vigil during the long afternoon.
Mr Samak may call PAD illegal or worse, but he should not underestimate the depth of their passion.
One young student at Silapakorn University runs up to the crowd.
''This is the fourth time I have joined with PAD,'' she says. ''I'm here today alone, but actually, I think all these people are my friends. We have the same objective.''
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