Some do burn with the fire of indignation at the efforts of the anti-government group to bring down Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. For others, there seems to be just a sense of duty about their purpose for being there. Certainly, there's not the inspired dedication that we've been lead to believe is driving the poor and disaffected to do battle with their opponents.

There also is just as much confusion about exactly how many are involved at Chatuchak as there is for the anti-Thaksin rallies of the past few weeks. The pro-Thaksin camp claims 30,000 people on their side. Some mass media outlets put the number as high as 100,000.

Other observers, however, seem to agree that sporadic random counts over the past few days would tend to suggest 10,000 is more realistic.

Unlike the anti-Thaksin camp, the pro-Thaksin supporters seem to come from fairly clearly defined socio-economic groups, and probably could not be truly representative of the grass roots, in that they seem to be either taxi drivers, van drivers, motorcycle taxi-drivers or rubber farmers from the Northeast and the North.

Those involved in the taxi business prefer to call themselves representatives of the urban poor, while the rubber farmers have attached to themselves the more romantic title of "Caravan of the Poor".

"During the day, only the Caravan of the Poor group remains at the site," says Chinavat Haboonphad, chairman of the Taxi Drivers Association. "We tend to join up at the main stage at night between 5pm and 10pm."

"The gathering reaches a peak during that time, when the drivers join the two farmers' groups," says Samrerng Adisa, chairman of the Van Taxi-driver Association. "For special events [in which a large crowd needs to be viewed by the media], I have to ask special favours from my members to join in."

The Caravan of the Poor very much resembles an "organised" mass of people rather than the spontaneity of voluntary villagers from rural provinces.

And where they are getting money to pay for all their food and daily necessities is very much a mystery. Many of them claim the funds mainly come from public donations and profits from sales of pro-Thaksin T-shirts. There seems little evidence to support this.

"We can earn Bt5 per shirt and over 200,000 have been sold [making a profit of about Bt1 million]," Khamta Kaenboonjan of the Northeast rubber farmers claimed. At a cost of Bt20 each, that means the basic T-shirt is costing the group a remarkably cheap Bt15.

Over the course of a few days, discussions with five leaders of the Chatuchak gathering elicited very little information about the real amount of money being donated each day. Some claimed it was as high as Bt1 million, others as low as Bt20,000. That does not include, incidentally, the question of who is paying for petrol for the long haul to Bangkok by the Caravan of the Poor.

"We have plenty of food, enough to live on for a month," Ood Sukhato, a leader of a group of villagers from Chiang Rai, said.

There would also seem to be some validity to the claim by the anti-Thaksin group that the pro-Thaksin crowd at Chatuchak are carefully orchestrated by key aides to the prime minister.

The people in Chatuchak seem to hail from three fairly distinct areas: Buri Ram, Chiang Rai and Bangkok. Buri Ram is the birthplace and political stomping ground of PM Office's Minister Newin Chidchob. Chiang Rai is Natural Resource and Environment Minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat's home. And a certain Thai Rak Thai Bangkok MP has a close relationship with one particular taxi association that was strengthened recently when the government launched the "taxi ua-ar-thorn", which allows taxi drivers to borrow money at zero interest rates to buy their cabs.

Khamta admits he is the central figure in the organising of the Caravan of the Poor. He used his network of connections in the Northeast to fire up the caravan, especially through the network of farmers who benefit from PM Thaksin's policy to promote rubber plantations in North and Northeast provinces.

"It's never happened before. Buri Ram farmers have gained a lot from this policy and we have expanded to connect with the rubber farmer network in the North chaired by Kasem Namchai," he said. Tens of thousands of farmers in Buri Ram are now growing 500,000 rai of rubber trees, Khamta added.

Apart from getting people to join the caravan of the poor through the rubber-growing network, Chiang Rai's main leader Ood Sukhato said he had used the network of village police (or-por-phor-ror) to attract more people to Bangkok. He also used his position as chairman of the village fund to seek Bt100,000 to travel to Bangkok, he said.

Two leaders of the taxi groups admitted they joined the gathering due to their personal relationship with the taxi driver association's leader.

If these disparate groups at Chatuchak have anything in common it is to stop the Peoples Association for Democracy (PAD). They all contend that the main reason to base themselves at Chatuchak is "to balance the voice of PAD" and "benefit from Thaksin's policies" - especially the Bt30-healthcare plan, the Bt1-million village fund and the drug-suppression policies.

None really wanted to take an overall view of the Thaksin administration but rather focussed on specific policies. They vowed to continue their protest until they were sure Thaksin would stay in power.

"We do not intend to allow a violent confrontation with [the PAD rally]," Khamta said.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation