30,000 reds rally in Khao Yai
- Published: 25/02/2012 at 09:54 PM
- Online news:
The red-shirt movement’s drive to amend the constitution and oppose a future military coup has gained momentum with an estimated 30,000 supporters gathering at Bonanza Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima on Saturday evening.
Traffic was heavy all day Saturday with private cars and buses bearing red flags on Thanarat Road leading to Khao Yai National Park, reports said.
Among the UDD core leaders and Pheu Thai MPs attending the event were UDD chairwoman Tida Tawornseth, her husband Weng Tojirakarn, and Jatuporn Prompan.
Mrs Tida said the 2007 constitution had been used for five years and Thai society had seen its best and worst points. The UDD rally, she said, showed there were many people who wanted to declare that they did not accept the post-coup charter.
A joint sitting of senators and members of the House of Representatives early Saturday morning agreed in principle to rewrite the 2007 constitution that was passed after the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra.
Saturday's gathering was the UDD’s first major mass rally since Mrs Tida was selected as the group's chairperson last year.
The UDD leader was scheduled to announce "proactive" policies for the next two years to prevent the recurrence of a coup, and Thaksin was also scheduled to address the crowd via a video link.
The yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Demcocracy (PAD) has been threatening to regroup and step up its protests if the charter amendments go ahead.
Some hard-core PAD members are even said to favour a military coup to prevent the passage of a new charter that they believe could consolidate the power of Thaksin and his allies.
Meanwhile, Tul Sitthisomwong, a core member of the Network of Citizen Volunteers to Protect the Land, or the multicoloured-shirt group, told 100 supporters at Victory Monument that his group would also oppose changing the charter.
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