Just some 10 hours after the House dissolution was announced on national TV, Samdin Lertbusaya, a leader of the Dharma Army, consisting of some 1,000 devotees of the Santi Asoke Buddhist sect, started final preparations for today's momentous rally at Sanam Luang.

The Dharma Army is headed by Chamlong Srimuang, Thaksin's one-time mentor, who decided a week ago that he and his followers would join civic groups in getting rid of Thaksin.

Chamlong indicated his supporters and their relatives could number 20,000-30,000.

Samdin Lertbusaya, an aide to Chamlong, started his day by taking care of logistics for the many supporters coming from around the country.

"The problem is now Thaksin himself, not his government MPs or Parliament, so we will still hold the Sanam Luang rally as planned to demand his removal," he said.

But the Dharma Army will do its best to ensure that today's event is peaceful and any kind of violence is avoided, he said.

Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Popular Campaign for Democracy, said the rally would go ahead because all previous anti-government rallies had demanded the premier's resignation, not an end to the House.

"Therefore we reject the premier's decision to dissolve the House. Besides the premier's resignation we demand a fresh round of political reform, including a charter amendment," he said.

Suriyasai is acting as the coordinator of dozens of civic bodies under the umbrella of the People's Alliance for Democracy.

He estimates that 150,000 people will turn up, including 20,000-30,000 from the Dharma Army, some 30,000 from the national network of labour unions, 20,000 from the national teachers' union and farmers' networks and tens of thousands of private people and fans of media firebrand Sondhi Limthongkul.

"Initially about 10,000 teachers from the Northeast will travel to Bangkok, while 15,000 teachers will come from the South, East and central provinces. More teachers will join the rally later," said Uaychai Watha, a leader of the teachers' network.

Suriyasai views today's gathering as history-making because the political crisis is approaching its climax.

"It is similar to Makha Puja Day for Buddhists. Historically a total of 1,250 Buddhist monks gathered before the Lord Buddha on Makha Puja Day when the tenets of Dharma were declared.

"To demonstrators, Thaksin is now unqualified to govern the country because of his lack of ethics. We've seen his abuse of power in the Bt73-billion Shin Corp sale to benefit himself and his family," Suriyasai said.

Samdin of the Dharma Army admitted it had taken a while for the Santi Asoke sect to get on the bandwagon.

"Many of us were used to Thaksin as premier. Now we realise that we need to get him out of office for the betterment of people in this country. The longer he stays in public office, the greater the number of people who will suffer.

"We also think he should stop sinning."

Suriyasai said each group in the anti-government coalition had its own reasons for attending the rally but they all shared one goal, making Thaksin step down from public office.

Kotchawan Chaiyabut, a Chulalongkorn University student and secretary-general of the Student Federation of Thailand, said students were attending because of Thaksin's misguided policies on national education reform.

"His government has been pushing state universities to be more business-oriented. His policy will lead to fewer equitable opportunities for Thais to go to state universities," he said.

Sirichai Mai-ngarm, a leader of the national labour movement, said union members were attending because the Thaksin administration had mismanaged the privatisation of state enterprises.

Suriyasai said he hoped the rally would not be called off until Thaksin was gone.

At the rally the People's Alliance for Democracy will launch a campaign to reject the House dissolution as a means to solve political problems.

The coalition will propose to the Democrat, Chat Thai and Mahachon parties that they boycott the upcoming election by refusing to field any candidates.

The alliance will urge people to abstain from voting for either party and constituency MPs.

Uaychai said more teachers and students would likely attend the anti-government rally in two weeks after the end of final examinations.

"We will be the core group that stands until the last day of the gathering," Samdin said, adding that they would give Thaksin five days to consider quitting.

Uaychai said that by March 3, if the premier was still not out of his caretaker post, several thousand more teachers would descend on Sanam Luang.

"After finals, more college and high-school students will probably turn up, not in the name of their universities but as individuals," said Panithan Pichasai, a Chula student.

The first batch of farmers' groups is expected to arrive in Bangkok this morning, followed by teachers' groups in the afternoon.

Uaychai said local gatherings had also been organised in at least 30 provinces to view the live telecast from Sanam Luang.

"Thus over a million people will attend either physically or via remote broadcasts. We feel that the House dissolution is a selfish political decision on Thaksin's part," he said.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation