The government's security alert is an overreaction and its plans to boost security forces in 38 provinces, including the set-up of 200 checkpoints in the capital, will cause unjustified anxiety, red-shirt leader Weng Tojirakarn said on Tuesday.
"The government is making a big fuss and it is not even clear when the red shirts will hold a mass protest," he said.
The red shirts do not organise armed units in 38 provinces as alleged by the authorities and their rally plan has not been finalised, he said.
The red shirts have yet to set the date for rally, which may or may not coincide with the February 26 verdict on the Bt76 billion asset seizure case involving ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, he said.
He voiced suspicion that the government was squandering public funds for security boost. Each time the internal security law was invoked, the cost to tax payers was estimated at Bt300 million, he said, hinting certain figures stand to benefit from the security spending.
