Red-shirt sympathisers plan to defy the junta and go ahead as planned with religious ceremonies to mark 100 days since the death of red-shirt poet Kamol Duangphasuk at Wat Phra Si Mahathat in Bangkhen today.
Prominent red shirts were among those who attended the funeral of the poet in late April, which is why the army fears Thursday's 100-day event could be political. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)
Kamol, 45, better known by his pen name Mai Neung Kor Khuntee, was shot outside a Bangkok restaurant on April 23 during anti-government protests spearheaded by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) to try and oust the Pheu Thai-led government.
The six-month protest by the PDRC was intermittently marred by bomb attacks and other forms of violence leading to 29 deaths, including Mr Kamol’s.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of two suspects based on police sketches provided by eyewitnesses.
Sutachai Yimprasert, a Chulalongkorn University assistant professor of history, said he hoped the poet’s friends would be allowed to attend the religious rites at Wat Phra Si Mahathat.
Suda Rangkuphan, a close friend of the poet, said Kamol’s death highlights efforts by the traditional elite to gradually weaken those who oppose it.
Ms Suda, who has refused to report to the National Council for Peace and Order and is still in hiding, said she would would release a song in commemoration of the slain poet.
Kamol was known to visit red-shirt guards and red-shirt members imprisoned since the military crackdown in 2010.