Border residents and nationalist groups will stage a protest tomorrow against the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s role in the Preah Vihear territory dispute.
A monk sprinkles holy water on devotees to herald in the lunar New Year marked by the Songkran festival at the village of Ban Phum Srol in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket, which borders Cambodia. PATTARAPONG CHATPATTARASILL
Hundreds of demonstrators are expected to gather at the Thai-Cambodian border village of Ban Phum Srol in Si Sa Ket as the Thai legal delegation prepares to present its oral statement to The Hague-based court.
Protest organisers say they will deploy a "housewife strategy" to offer home-front support to the Thai legal team. However, they also reject the ICJ's jurisdiction in the case.
They said a man can work harder if his wife is at home preparing good food and cleaning the house. The protesters will therefore act as the "wife" and support the legal delegation abroad, organisers said.
The rally is being supported by Si Sa Asoke community, a border village-cum-activist group in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district, not far from the planned protest site.
The community, a branch of the conservative Santi Asoke Buddhist sect, will provide shelter and care to demonstrators during the protest.
Kwandin: Offers food, shelter to protesters
Community co-leader Kwandin Singkham welcomed Si Sa Asoke's role as a "housewife".
The group is focusing on two goals to help the protests succeed, she said: ensuring enough food and other facilities are available to rally-goers, and supporting protesters to win public support.
"If [protesters] are tired, they can just come back and we will have food for them to eat, water for them to bathe with and a bed to sleep on," Ms Kwandin said. "Once they feel invigorated, they can go out and fight again."
Santi Asoke played a similar role in backing the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) anti-government protest in 2008, which occupied Government House for 193 days.
Ms Kwandin was village head of Si Sa Asoke at the time and acted as a coordinator to distribute food supplies to demonstrators and take care of the sick.
She said she would perform similar duties at the border village tomorrow.
Ms Kwandin said her group would also help implement protest organisers' strategies.
"We will not only fight against villagers who don't understand us, but we also have to fight against some state officials [who have taken a different stance from our supporters]," she said.
The ICJ is reinterpreting its 1962 judgement which awarded the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia but failed to rule on the 4.6-sq-km area of land around it.
The protesters claim the land belongs to Thailand and reject the court's authority to rule on it.
But if the protesters fail to secure victory, Ms Kwandin said: "We'd better face the truth and let it go."