Red Shirt protest. Photo from twitpic page of thethaireport.

By Mong Palatino

January 11, 2011 -- Global Voices -- Red Shirt anti-government protesters in Thailand mobilised tens of thousands of their members in central Bangkok on January 9, 2011, as they continued to press their demand for more democratic reforms in government. Police estimated the crowd at 30,000 but rally organisers claimed they gathered 60,000 in the streets.

It was the biggest Red Shirt rally months after a violent government crackdown on protests. It was also the first major rally after the lifting of the state of emergency in the country’s capital. The Red Shirts core members are supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra but the group has since then become a broad movement calling for substantive changes in Thai government and society.

Bangkok Pundit confirms that the Sunday rally was the biggest Red Shirt protest since the street blockades last year.

This is actually the biggest rally since the March-May protests by a long way. On September, around 10,000 reds attended the first mass post-crackdown demonstration in Bangkok. Around 8,000 reds gathered in Bangkok on October 10, another 12,000 in Ayutthaya on October 17, and up to 10,000 gathered again on November 19 to mark the six-month anniversary of the May 19 crackdown.

Richard Barrow provides some key observations of the rally:

The rally started at the Democracy Monument. Jatuporn Prompan, the Red Shirt leader, was forbidden by a court order to go and speak at the rally. However, he defied that order today. He not only turned up, but he gave a speech as well. That is really what made this rally so different from anything we have seen since the bloody crackdown by the army which resulted in 91 deaths. For the first time we had people giving speeches. The parade virtually brought many roads through Bangkok to a standstill. Despite that, I witnessed many shopkeepers coming out to clap and cheer as the Reds passed them by… the thousands that came today mainly came by their own transport. Most people were from around Bangkok and the surrounding provinces. Their demand was simple, release on bail the red shirt leaders in prison. They cried it is unfair that the yellow shirt leaders who occupied government house and closed down the airport are still walking free.

Photos of the Red Shirt march are available on Matichon Online and Thai Free News.

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60,000 Red Shirts rally in opposition to the government

