Members of the AOP, mostly poor farmers, feel the government has been equally insincere as the previous administration in addressing their grievances.

"Many problems are not being addressed despite promises," said Baramee Chairat, a member of the AOP secretariat.

"They want to deal with the poor in a top-down fashion and have told them to stick with the sufficiency economy while rich corporations like Charoen Pokphand are not told the same.

"This administration is only interested about saving themselves so that its leader [PM Surayud] can return to his job after the election as a Privy Council member. We have been quiet and patient for the past 10 months, but nothing has been done."

Chaiphan Praphasawat, an adviser to the AOP, told some 50 village leaders who came to Bangkok to prepare for the protest that too much leeway had been given to the government. "We want to see all related ministers as we have more than 200 unresolved problems," he said, referring to such issues as the impact of dam construction, pollution and community rights over ancestral lands.

"This Cabinet was not elected, so they are not concerned about the people," he told rural leaders. "The Council for National Security (CNS) will have to be responsible because they appointed these people. The situation now is beyond crisis and the CNS must be to blame. No future coup should take place because these people are incompetent," Chaiphan added.

The assembly last month met prime minister Surayud, who promised to help them. "The PM can't run the country and a good and capable person is not always one and the same," said Chaiphan.

He said the junta had shown its true colours by becoming more dictatorial and suppressing rural people.

"The economy is on a downward spiral and the country is near ruin."

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation