Down South they're pretty rabid as well
Ekkachai Issarata posts a board explaining why the country needs to unseat caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Ekkachai is a leader of Songkhla-based movement against Thaksin.
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While their activities may not enjoy daily media coverage, southern residents from all walks of life gather each night in an unwavering effort to unseat Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"I have been here every night for two months," Boonya, 48, said as she walked to her usual spot in front of the stage the anti-Thaksin rally has set up inside Hat Yai train station in Songkhla province. "There are lots of people coming. If you want to find a good spot you have to come early," she said clutching a cushion, mat and water bottle. Boonya is an odd-job worker in Songkhla's Hat Yai district, but she does not mind paying up to Bt50 a day to travel to the rally and losing a little sleep. "Before the rally, I went to bed at 11pm at the latest but now I go to sleep at around 2am," she said. Her friends often describe her as "politically-obsessed" because of her determination to keep abreast of the news. "Before the rally, I could only watch the TV news but now I learn a lot from the rally," Boonya said. Despite being the first to arrive and the last to leave, she said she never felt bored or tired. Not far from her is Supap Omsapsin, who joined the rally as the chairman of Satun for Peace Club at the cost of his hotel's success in Satun. "As soon as I declared my stance, my hotel lost business," he said, explaining that government agencies cancelled their conferences. However, Supap remained committed to the anti-Thaksin rally because he believed one must make personal sacrifices in the public interest. "Now I have little time for my hotel. I can only give instructions to my staff via the phone. "Most of the time I have to travel between Songkhla and Bangkok to attend meetings with other leaders," he said. Ekkachai Issarata, a leader at the Hat Yai-based rally, said he persuaded his wife to help. "If she doesn't come we won't see each other. The rally's activities don't end until the early morning," he said. Ekkachai said budget constraints forced him to do many of the jobs himself from putting up fencing, making announcements and collecting rubbish. "But my sacrifice is so little. We can't afford to lose the people's mandate," he said.
Supitcha Jantapa The Nation Songkhla
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