A member of the Council for National Security (CNS) suggested yesterday that politicians were funding a rally scheduled for Constitution Day on Sunday.

General Saprang Kalayanamitr, an assistant Army commander who is also assistant secretary-general of the CNS, said he had learned that politicians linked with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra were preparing to spend money to get people to join what may be an organised mass protest against the junta.

He said patriotic Thais had been giving information about the movement of a hired group of protesters and he would like to thank them.

A report on the different groups of protesters will also be submitted to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont before Sunday, which is also Constitution Day.

He urged Newin Chidchob, a senior Thai Rak Thai Party member, to come out and clarify allegations he has arranged funding for some of the protest leaders.

Orders have also been issued to local authorities to talk with rural villagers and advise them not to fall prey to these politicians. Local officials such as district chiefs will have the duty of making sure rural protesters eventually return home.

However, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the Army chief who heads the Council for National Security, yesterday said he had no concern about the December 10 rally.

Saprang said yesterday those who join the anti-coup protest on Sunday will either be hired by politicians with ill-intentions or fundamentalist democracy lovers.

The general said people should not be fooled by "bad politicians" who may be trying to engineer the protest so that it gets out of control and ends up in possible bloodshed, so the junta-installed government will crumble.

"I think they are either hired guns or just free-spirited bookish-type people who want to see an ideal democracy that only exists in textbooks," the general said. "In the real world we should make society the best we can … but I would like to tell the fundamentalist or ideologically-imbued academics to understand that the armed forces love democracy no less than democracy-loving politicians."

Saprang said the ill-intended hired guns would not succeed in causing turmoil as both the armed forces and police were keeping a close eye on the situation and that the first group of hired protesters lacked any legitimacy.

The general said the expression "coup d'etat" did not quite capture what took place on September 19 because the military simply wanted to contribute to the future of Thai democracy.

He said anyone who heeded His Majesty the King's call for unity would not be participating in the protest.

The stance was echoed by Army chief-of-staff General Montri Sangkasap, who said those participating in Sunday's rally could be viewed as not heeding the royal advice on unity.

Meanwhile, more anti-government groups will make a move on December 10 to call for an early return to democracy.

A new network of human rights groups called the Campaign for Human Rights, which includes half a dozen organisations under its umbrella, will march to submit a letter to the CNS chairman at the Army Headquarters urging the junta to uphold international human rights standards, the group said in a statement.

The group includes Amnesty International (Thailand), the Campaign for Popular Democracy (CPD) and the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL).

Panya Thiewsangwan

The Nation