New forces in anti-government protest

University students have emerged as a new force in the anti-government campaign.

Students from 21 institutes and two schools plan to gather at Makkawan Rangsan Bridge tomorrow to join the People's Alliance for Democracy protest.

A group calling themselves Young PAD plan to meet at 6pm to express their opposition to the government, the group's spokesman Wasan Wanit, said.

Yesterday Silapakorn University's Sanam Chan campus in Nakhon Pathom called for the government to stop using violence to solve the political crisis.

Calling themselves Tab Kaew Alliance, the student group asked the government to with¬draw charges against the People's Alliance for Democracy's leaders. They also called for the Samak administration to lift the state of emer¬gency in Bangkok.

About 500 students signed a petition that will be sent to Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The PAD rally at Government House has attract¬ed a growing number of students from universities including Thammasat, Chulalongkorn, Hua Chiew, Thai Chamber of Commerce, Prasarnmitr and the Rajabhat Institutes.

Some took the stage and gave speeches in front of the cheer¬ing crowd while others, like Chulalongkorn's medical students, stayed among protesters at the rally site. "Although we are warned by Education Minister Somchai Wongsawat that we should not get involved in politics, we think it is our du¬ty. His speech shows how unfit he is for the post," said a Thammasat student yesterday.