10,000 southerners set sights on Sanam Luang
A southern branch of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) will bring its members to Sunday’s rally in Sanam Luang to demand the resignation of the prime minister.
The catchcry “Yik Thaksin”, meaning “Oust Thaksin”, has spread around the organisation.Ekachai Insaratha, leader of the southern PAD, said his group had held meetings in Phuket, Satun and Surat Thani to build alliances and explain to the public why Thaksin must go. So far, about 10,000 people have agreed to travel on public transport to prevent the government hindering their getting to the capital, he said. Ekachai said the group did not agree with the consumerist, populist policies of the Thaksin administration. Abdullohman Mukem, a student spokesman from Prince Songkhla University, said he and his peers had researched the issues and concluded that the government had lost its legitimacy. Thaksin’s main failure has been his inability to tackle the violence in the South, he said. University students in Nakhon Si Thammarat will join the rally on Sunday. They plan to take a giant stove and pan, so they can cook for demonstrators, said Yupawan Damrongpipat, vice president of Walailak University. Others include tsunami victims from Phang Nga’s Ban Laem Pom, said spokeswoman Mitri Chongkraichak.
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