Thaksin supporters begin royal petition campaign

"We have found that they have already organised gathering of signatures in some villages. This is a very scary situation,'' Buranat said.

He said Thaksin had earlier given interview to the Japan Times and CNN that he would seek royal pardon from the King and only the King could resolve political conflicts.

The spokesman said he believed Thaksin would use signatures of his supporters to put pressure for Royal pardon the same way he had earlier claimed that he had 19 millions Thais supporting him.

Reacting to opposition from the Democrats, former supreme commander Gen Chaiyasit Shinwatra said that the government should not oppose the move by ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatras' supporters to seek Royal pardon for him.

Thaksin's elder brother said supporters of the former premier made up of a large group of people in the country and they had the right to petition the King to pardon Thaksin.

"I believe this is a venue to achieve national conciliation and bring peace to the country. But there are some groups of people who do not accept the move because they see Thaksin as enemy,'' Chaiyasit said.



Veera Musikapong, a leader of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship addressed the red-shirt rally on Saturday that his group was planning to seek millions of signatures of Thaksin's supporters to petition the King to pardon Thaksin.

Thaksin also phoned in to more than 30,000 supporters that gathered at Sanam Luang on Saturday urging them to help him return to the country.

Chaiyasit declined to say if Thaksin was behind the move.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva refused to answer if the red-shirts have the right to petition for Royal pardon for Thaksin.