Nakhon Ratchasima: Pro-government Democracy Protection Volunteers Group (DPVG) leader Suporn Atthawong says his group is ready will head to the capital if the Constitutional Court rules against the caretaker government.
Over 15,000 supporters of the pro-government Democracy Protection Volunteers Group take part in a march at a sports stadium in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday. Prasit Tangprasert
He was speaking before more than 10,000 DPVG members from across the country who took part in a march organised at a sports stadium in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Muang district yesterday.
Mr Suporn, better known as “Rambo Isan”, said more than 15,000 DPVG supporters underwent training on Sunday and Monday. The march was carried out to mark the completion of the training.
All participants will now return to their “bases” in their own provinces to see how the court’s ruling against caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra turns out.
The court is expected to hand down a ruling that might lead to Ms Yingluck being stripped of her powers as caretaker premier over her endorsement of the transfer of National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri in 2011, which the Supreme Administrative Court later ruled as illegitimate.
If the charter court’s ruling leads to the overthrow of the government or a coup, all trained DPVG supporters will head to Bangkok to demonstrate, Mr Suporn said.
Nittaya Phutthachat, 59, from Nong Khai’s Tha Bo district, said she was taught self-defence skills that might be useful when she has to fight what she described as the ammart (elite).
“We are ready to respond to our leaders' requests for us to head to Bangkok,” she said, insisting she was not hired to attend the training.
Ms Nittaya said she had been taken part in pro-government movements since 2009 and this time she was among about 250 participants who came from Nong Khai.
Buakan Mueankhian, 58, a local leader from Mukdahan’s Nikhom Kham Soi district, said he had learned self-defence skills including muay Thai that might be useful for him in the capital.
He said arms training was not part of the instruction. “We’re ready to fight against any form of dictatorship,” he said.
“Even though we’re unarmed, we’ll fight to the end. If Thaksin [Shinawatra] was still here, we would not be this poor. We gained a lot from him before,” said Pramual Boonphan, 43, a resident of Maha Sarakham’s Borabue district.
Suphat Watthanachai, 45, also from Maha Sarakham, said he was glad to see a number of participants from the South at the training as well.
Pichai Wangpanya, 67, a retired teacher from Songkhla’s Khlong Hoi Khong district, said he and 21 people from the southern province joined the event because they opposed the Democrat Party and the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform for Democracy (PDRC).
Southern provinces are a political stronghold of the Democrats.