Between 100 and 150 members of the club gathered in front of the CP tower on Silom Road and urged people in nearby areas to cast votes for a new Parliament on April 2.

They provided a variety of street entertainments to relieve the tension, including pom pom dances and live music, before marching along Silom Road.

Surapong Thovichakchaikul, the club's head and the managing director of IT firm Pro Line Ltd, said the group has no bias and simply wants peace restored to the country.

Since the anti-Thaksin rallies started, he said, trade on Silom Road had dropped by about half, due mainly to a decrease in the number of foreign tourists. The rallies not only hit business sentiment, but also caused traffic jams, he said.

Surapong, a former member of the Democrat Party who resigned last month, was quick to distance the People's Power for Thailand Club from a group of anti-Thaksin protesters based in the Silom area who are planning to march from Government House to Silom Road today.

Surapong said the owner of CP tower had permitted his group to use the space in front of the building for a peaceful protest.

The group will call on people to exercise their votes until the date of the election. It plans to rally in Chinatown today.

The club has never sought money or support from anyone, Surapong said.

Last week, about 500 people from Silom Road, including businesspeople and white-collar workers, marched from Lumpini Park to Government House to demand that Thaksin resign.

Meanwhile, the People's Alliance for Democracy, the main anti-Thaksin group, will gather in the Silom area today.

Somruedi Banchongduang

The Nation