Red shirts ready for Govt House march

Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan said the red shirts are expected to march to Government House this morning, and though the rally is expected to last a while the exact time period is still unknown.

He added that the protest leaders have been instructed to not enter Government House grounds nor obstruct the Asean Summit in Cha-am.

"If anybody instigates violence or carries a weapon into Government House, it would not be someone from our group and we will happy to hand that person over to police," he said, adding that plainclothes officers were reportedly going to be part of the crowds.

Jatuporn said that though ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was not behind this rally, it was still uncertain if he would be addressing his supporters through a phone-in.

Another protest leader Natthawut Sai-kua said the red shirts would not obstruct the Asean Summit but would show the foreigners that this government is not legitimate, adding that they would increase the pressure if the government refuses to respond to their four demands.

The demands include the removal of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Yesterday, about 3,000 farmers besieged Orathai Bridge and Phitsanulok Road in a bid to surround Government House, calling for the government to solve their debt problems. They took over the tents prepared for police officers assigned to secure the government seat, and some 10 protesters decided to urinate against the fence because they claimed there were no toilets provided.

The farmers then moved to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Coopperatives headquarters nearby.

In addition yesterday, some 100 labourers from the East blocked Phitsanulok Road with three buses as they demanded that the government recompense them for unfair lay-offs as well as improve workers' welfare.

In a related report, some hundred or so red-shirt protesters yesterday visited the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) headquarters to ask that they be provided with mobile toilets and drinking water for the rally today. They said they were furious because they had filed this request since Saturday but the BMA has done nothing yet.

A BMA director Irawat Pattamasukon said there were too many groups demanding such facilities and the BMA had a limited supply. BMA has provided two mobile toilets for the red-shirt crowds at Sanam Luang, and would be adding another soon.

Meanwhile, more than 200 protesters from Chiang Rai, Lampang and Phayao took a train from Lampang yesterday morning to join the rally in Bangkok. They were all equipped with anti-government posters and eggs. Another 200 protesters from Chiang Mai are said to be heading for the capital.

Petchawat Wattanapongsirikul, leader of a red-shirt group in Chiang Mai, said that at least 5,000 people from the North would be joining the rally today to demand House dissolution and a reinstatement of the 1997 Constitution among other things.

He said the protesters were well equipped with food and provisions for several days.