BANGKOK: Thailand’s “red shirts” took to the street this weekend to mark the anniversary of the army’s bloody repression of their mass rally in Bangkok in 2010 amid growing signs of a rift with the government they helped elect last July.
Many red shirts are angry at the failure of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bring to account those responsible for the 91 deaths during the 2010 events. Some are threatening action that could destabilise her government and start another period of political upheaval, after months of relative calm.
At least 20,000 people attended the rally, which ended peacefully in the early hours of Sunday. They blocked a major crossroads where a huge shopping mall was set on fire during the dispersal of the 2010 rally.
“My son has been in prison for two years and hasn’t been allowed bail. I haven’t received any help from this government to get him out,” said Bantao Muangkot, whose son was arrested for allegedly setting fire to a town hall in the northeast.
Families of those killed fear a political amnesty bill proposed by the Yingluck government could see charges dropped against those guilty of crimes related to Thailand’s six-year political crisis, including members of the military, former ministers now in opposition and ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Red shirts at the rally held pictures of Thaksin, Yingluck’s brother, who was ousted in a coup in 2006. He has chosen exile to avoid going to jail after being found guilty of a conflict of interest when he was in power but is itching to return.
Though they support Thaksin, many red shirts are demanding a full investigation into the military’s role in the deaths.
“Most red shirts I spoke to said that if they were forced to choose, they would rather see those responsible for the violence go to jail than bring Thaksin home to Thailand,” Thida Thawornseth, leader of the red shirts’ United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, told Reuters. (Reuters)