PAD calls off Preah Vihear temple protest

Veera: Accusations against Cambodia

Hard-liners vow to 'maintain the rage'

Writer: KING-OUA LAOHONG and PRADIT RUANGDIT
Published: 21/09/2009

The People's Alliance for Democracy has called off its protest to force Cambodians out of a disputed area near Preah Vihear temple, but is vowing to return should the government fail to ensure Thai sovereignty in the area.

Veera Somkwamkid, who led the protest in Si Sa Ket near the border with Cambodia, was allowed yesterday to read a protest statement at Pha Mor E Daeng inside Khao Phra Viharn National Park, which is close to the 4.6 square kilometres of disputed territory and stairway leading to the ruins of the ancient Hindu temple of Preah Vihear.

The permission followed Saturday's clash between PAD supporters and Si Sa Ket residents which left many injured. The movement demanded in its statement that Cambodian soldiers and villagers leave the disputed zone.

"We do not accept the World Heritage Committee's decision to grant Cambodia the right to list the Preah Vihear temple as well as land around it as a World Heritage site," the statement said.

The statement was read out in the presence of 2nd Army Corps commander Wiwalit Chornsamrit.

Mr Veera accused the Cambodian government of allowing its people to build houses, roads and temples in the disputed area, and said the protesters were only exercising their constitutional right in their struggle to protect Thai sovereignty.

He also accused Thai authorities of mobilising villagers to confront the PAD protesters in a clash which left scores injured on both sides.

Mr Veera later said army chief Anupong Paojinda should use martial law as a tool to push back the Cambodians into their own territory. He said protesters would return if the government failed to do what had been demanded.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said the government was not turning a blind eye to the dispute and was using every possible channel to resolve the problem.

It had sought to nullify the joint statement a former government signed with Cambodia to back Phnom Penh's bid to have the temple listed as a World Heritage site, he said.

The prime minister said peaceful negotiations were being undertaken to achieve the ultimate goal of seeing Thailand and Cambodia withdraw their troops from the area.

He said Thailand had not lost an inch of territory to Cambodia.

Boonrerm Khobut, a village headman in tambon Phupha Mok in Kantharalak district, said villagers had warned the PAD not to return to renew its protest and stir up trouble between Thailand and Cambodia.

PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said Chamlong Srimuang, a joint PAD leader, was misquoted in media reports as saying PAD leaders would distance themselves from Mr Veera after Saturday's protest turned nasty.

Although none of the PAD leaders sanctioned the Si Sa Ket protest, all five leaders backed calls to reclaim Thai sovereignty over the disputed area, Mr Suriyasai said.

If state officials had not coerced the villagers to turn against the PAD and mobilised them to confront the protesters, violence would not have broken out, he said.

The government should set a clear time frame for negotiations to settle the border dispute with Cambodia and the army needed to force Cambodians occupying the disputed area to move out, he said.

The PAD leaders will hold a meeting soon to discuss a plan to renew their struggle to reclaim Thai sovereignty over the area, Mr Suriyasai said.

PAD makes demands on Preah Vihear

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 20/09/2009

The yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) called on the Cambodian government to quickly move its villagers and troops out of the disputed border area around Preah Vihear temple.

About 300 Thai soldiers at Preah Vihear national park in Si Sa Ket province allowed 33 PAD protesters led by Veera Somkwamkid to enter the site on Sunday.

After arriving at Mo I Daeng cliff in the national park, PAD core member Veera announced that the ancient temple and the areas around it are within Thailand's territory in reference to the border demarcation in 1904.

"Now, the Cambodian people have encroached on our country. The PAD would like the Cambodian government to quickly move its people and soldiers out of this area, or else Thai people will have to do their duty in protecting the country's sovereignty," Mr Veera said.

The Suranaree Task Force commander, Maj Gen Chavalit Choonhasarn, and a group of army officials were present when Mr Veera read the PAD's statement.

The PAD members later left the national park.

PAD makes demands on Preah Vihear

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 20/09/2009

The yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) called on the Cambodian government to quickly move its villagers and troops out of the disputed border area around Preah Vihear temple.

About 300 Thai soldiers at Preah Vihear national park in Si Sa Ket province allowed 33 PAD protesters led by Veera Somkwamkid to enter the site on Sunday.

After arriving at Mo I Daeng cliff in the national park, PAD core member Veera announced that the ancient temple and the areas around it are within Thailand's territory in reference to the border demarcation in 1904.

"Now, the Cambodian people have encroached on our country. The PAD would like the Cambodian government to quickly move its people and soldiers out of this area, or else Thai people will have to do their duty in protecting the country's sovereignty," Mr Veera said.

The Suranaree Task Force commander, Maj Gen Chavalit Choonhasarn, and a group of army officials were present when Mr Veera read the PAD's statement.

The PAD members later left the national park.

KRouge trial can heal wounds

The trial has heard Duch (left) repeatedly accept responsibility and beg forgiveness for his role overseeing the torture and killing of over 15,000 as chief of Tuol Sleng prison. -- PHOTO: AFP

Sep 20, 2009

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIA'S first war crimes trial has unearthed painful ghosts from the brutal Khmer Rouge era, but as testimony ends in the case there is growing hope that it will put past traumas to rest.

Moeurn Sarath, whose father and husband were among the two million people who died under the 1975-1979 communist regime, said it was too painful for her to watch the trial of Duch, the movement's main jailer.

Yet while she said that the proceedings made 'all those feelings come back to me again,' she believes that the UN-backed tribunal is good for victims and their families. 'It is good to try those leaders because they have killed a lot of people,' she said. 'I pray that those people who died are at rest because now justice is being found for them.'

The six-month evidence phase of the trial at the UN-backed court ended on Thursday, with the prosecution and defence due to present their final arguments to the judges on November 23. A verdict is not expected until early 2010.

The trial has heard Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, repeatedly accept responsibility and beg forgiveness for his role overseeing the torture and killing of over 15,000 as chief of Tuol Sleng prison. Proceedings have been shown on a weekly television show in Cambodia and the court said that an average of around 300 people a day came to the tribunal to watch from behind bullet-proof glass.

Few Cambodians told AFP they regularly watched proceedings, but all held some hope it would heal the mental wounds in a country that remains strewn with mass graves and bone-filled memorials.

'Every day I have to work and spend less time with the news on TV or newspaper,' said motorcycle taxi driver Sok Rorn, 45, whose mother was killed under the Khmer Rouge. 'But of course, I am aware of the trial. For certain, those people responsible for the death of my parent and many other Cambodians must be held accountable,' he added, with tears in his eyes.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia.

This year the Cambodian government has agreed for the first time to include a text on the Khmer Rouge in its high school curriculum, a key move in a country where more than 70 percent of the population was born after 1979.

'I have heard and learnt very little about the regime and all those stories. Maybe because I've not experienced it, I am not interested to find out more about it,' said Dav Sam Ath, an 18-year-old high school student. 'I'm sure the trial will help heal (victims') pain because if nobody can give them the answers of the past, how can they go on?' -- AFP

Genocide survivors seek justice

Audrey K. Redmond, legal adviser, documents Rosan Ang's life. The Santa Ana resident shares her story to preserve history during a two-day workshop held by the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia in Santa Ana.CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Anthony Kim, of Long Beach, attends a two-day workshop held by the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia. Survivors tell their stories for the legal system in their native country and New York University archives at The Cambodian Family in Santa Ana.CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Rosan Ang of Santa Ana, left, bursts into tears when recalling the death of her husband and four children during the Khmer Rouge regime. She shares her story to help preserve history during a two-day workshop held by the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia in Santa Ana. Kieng Seng is the interpreter.CINDY YAMANAKA, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

MORE PHOTOS

Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge submit testimony for court.

BY COURTNEY PERKES
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA Rosan Ang never saw her husband or four oldest children again after the Khmer Rouge seized them more than 30 years ago. But on Saturday she finally caught a glimpse of justice.

Ang, 67, wiped tears as she recounted the horror of losing her family at The Cambodian Family, part of a national effort to collect information from survivors for the upcoming international justice tribunal trial of four Khmer Rouge leaders.

Audrey Redmond, a Washington, D.C., attorney, gently asked Ang what happened after the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in 1975. Under dictator Pol Pot, roughly 2 million Cambodians were starved, murdered or worked to death.

"They sent us to live in the forest," said Ang, who lives in Santa Ana. "They separated my children. Only my youngest daughter survived because she was too young (to work) and she stayed with me."

Her husband went back and forth from a work camp. One day, he was tied up and taken away. She never saw him again.

As Ang spoke, Redmond patted her arm and took notes for the court's victim information form. She said the Cambodia-based tribunal is not obligated to use the information in the trial, but may choose to. The tribunal, which is currently trying one leader, is comprised of Cambodian legal officials as well as an international group from the United Nations.

More than a dozen survivors of the Khmer Rouge's brutal four-year reign attended the first day of a two-day workshop put on by the nonprofit Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia. They came to tell their stories for the legal system in their native country and also for the archives at New York University.

"They've been silent for 34 years," said Leakhena Nou, founder of the research institute and a sociology professor at Cal State Long Beach. "Now is the time to break the silence."

Volunteer Kenneth Long, a 30-year-old chemical engineer from Long Beach, thanked the group for having the courage to share their experience so that his generation would not forget. During a lunch break, he described hearing his father recount the pain he lived through for submission to the tribunal.

"It was the first time I'd ever seen him break down," Long said. "All his friends were wiped out. He was studying to be a lawyer. They killed his professors, his classmates."

Collecting the stories and filling out the official paperwork for submission to the court can take anywhere from two to eight hours.

"I had an interview with a woman the day before yesterday and she was systematically gang raped by three Khmer Rouge soldiers from morning to nightfall while she was six-and-a-half months pregnant," Nou said. "She was left to die at the rice paddy."

Nou also gave the survivors a presentation on post traumatic stress disorder. She showed photos of victims who were put to death and asked the group how they felt seeing them.

"My name was on the list of people targeted for execution but I escaped," responded 72-year-old Samien Thong of Arizona.

The testimonies will continue at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at The Cambodian Family in Santa Ana.

Contact the writer: 714-796-3686 or cperkes@ocregister.com

Country weathers protests

Sun, September 20, 2009
By THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AGENCIES
Published on September 20, 2009

Red shirts defy heavy rains to mark third anniversary of coup with peaceful rally; Violence mars yellow shirts' bid to march to disputed area on border with Cambodia

The country was hit by two mass protests yesterday when about 20,000 anti-government red shirts held a rally in Bangkok and thousands of the rival yellow shirts marched towards a disputed border area near Si Sa Ket.

The Bangkok protest was generally peaceful although it was disrupted by a heavy downpour. However, the march by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to a cliff next to the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple led to a clash between the yellow shirts and local villagers, who said they feared the protest would further sour ties with Cambodia.

The red shirts gathered at the Royal Plaza to mark the third anniversary of the military coup that ousted the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now a fugitive overseas.

"We came here today to mark the third anniversary of the coup, which has caused huge damage to the country," red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan told the crowd as a thunderstorm drenched the protest site.

"This will be a peaceful protest and will end by midnight if the government does not use violence," said Jatuporn, who is also an MP from the opposition Pheu Thai Party.

Thaksin was due to address the crowd later by video-link.

Authorities deployed more than 6,500 soldiers and police and imposed the Internal Security Act in the protest area, amid fears of a repeat of riots by the same group in April, which left two people dead.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there were reports unidentified groups of trouble-makers could set off bombs in the capital to create unrest. "I am worried about the situation tonight and have warned intelligence agencies," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of security, warned yesterday that four to five groups of trouble-makers might try to incite violence during the red-shirt protest.

The red shirts continued their protest despite hours of heavy rain that flooded the protest site around the Royal Plaza.

Heavy rain started at 2.20pm and the downpour didn't stop till more than two hours later. Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship leaders Veera Musigapong, Nattawut Saikua and Chatuporn Prompan took turns to address protesters on the stage, urging them to stand their ground and not to leave the protest site.

Some protesters who came by their personal vehicles left the scene and some waded through knee-length water at certain spots and found shelter at roofed bus stops.

When the rain stopped, they converged again at the Royal Plaza. They held hands vowing not to give up even if it rained heavier. The back of their main rally stage read: "Three years against bureaucratic polity to found a new Thai state".

More than 100 pieces of plywood were kept behind the stage, ready to be installed if the authorities turned on a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to disrupt their protest.

Sanchai Chadapet, a leader of the red shirts, took to the make-shift stage on a pickup truck loaded with loud speakers after moving on Si Ayutthaya Road to the Si Sao Residence of Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda. He slammed the elder statesman for 30 minutes before an audience of 50 red shirts before dispersing to join the main stage. They carried a 500-metre long cloth with a message "Give us back the 1997 Constitution".

Police threw a security blanket around Prem's residence.

The red shirts accuse Prem of masterminding the 2006 coup.

Earlier yesterday, some 4,000 red-shirt supporters of Thaksin showed up outside Prem's country home in Nakhon Ratchasima but called off their protest when confronted by an Army guard and informed that the chief royal adviser was not there.

Thai protesters mark coup's 3rd anniversary, nationalists spark brawl near Cambodia

Demonstrators and supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra listen to Thaksin's speech during a rally marking the third anniversary of the coup that overthrown Thaksin from power at Royal Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Thai nationalists clashed with police and villagers Saturday as they tried to march on an ancient temple on the Cambodian border, while anti-government protesters in the capital marked the third anniversary of a coup that continues to create political turmoil. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

Ousted Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen on a gaint screen as he addresses his supporters from an undisclosed location during a rally marking the third anniversary of the coup that overthrew him from power in Bangkok, Thailand Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Thai nationalists clashed with police and villagers Saturday as they tried to march on an ancient temple on the Cambodian border, while anti-government protesters in the capital marked the third anniversary of a coup that continues to create political turmoil. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

By GRANT PECK (AP)

BANGKOK — As thousands of demonstrators marked the anniversary of a 2006 coup in the Thai capital Saturday, a rival group of protesters clashed with police and villagers near the Cambodian border, showing the country's long-running political crisis is far from settled.

In the three years since the coup there have been multiple violent demonstrations, court rulings that have purged two prime ministers from power, and massive damage to the tourist industry after protesters shuttered the airports last year.

The country now appears locked in an endless cycle of protest and counter-protest by supporters and opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in the Sept. 19, 2006 coup on accusations of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for the constitutional monarch. Thaksin himself remains in self-imposed exile, able to rally his followers only by phone.

"Thai politics three years after the coup has become more confused, convoluted, and the stakes have increased. There has been no progress, no headway towards reconciliation and reform," Thitinan Pongsidhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University said this week. "The political situation has become more combustible."

The alliance that led demonstrations culminating in the coup tried Saturday to march toward the gates of a temple on disputed land near the Cambodian border, triggering clashes that left 17 people injured, according to local hospitals. The People's Alliance for Democracy demanded that the Thai government recover the territory that is claimed by both countries.

Supporters of Thaksin and pro-democracy activists rallied in Bangkok to mark the coup's anniversary, with more than 6,000 police on hand to prevent a repeat of rioting that killed at least two and injured hundreds in the last major anti-government protests in April.

Saturday's crowd — which drew 20,000 to 30,000 people in Royal Plaza, a major public square — was addressed by Thaksin via video.

"I want to ask people who hate me and those who love me to review the past three years and answer if you have seen anything changed for the better," he said. "Is the economy better? Have people reconciled? How about the people's rights and justice? Have the past three years hurt the country enough?"

Saturday's protesters want current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down, claiming he came to power illegitimately with the help of the military and the judiciary, seen as pillars of the Thai ruling class. Abhisit took office late last year by wooing Thaksin's supporters in Parliament after the former leader's allies were forced out of office by court rulings of conflict of interest and electoral fraud.

Despite early promises, Abhisit has made little effort at effecting reconciliation, with his government frequently castigating Thaksin and his supporters. On Friday, it launched a campaign, the "United and Strong Thai Project," calling on all Thais to sing the national anthem at 6 p.m. daily to promote "unity and patriotism."

Thaksin's supporters, many from poor rural areas that benefited from his social welfare programs, say the coup was a blow to Thailand's democracy and was engineered by the country's traditional Bangkok-centered elite — dubbed the "aristocracy" — who feared losing their privileges if the people in the countryside were empowered.

"I'm here to show I'm against the coup and all undemocratic interventions, it's so backward of our country and everything's become unfair," said Pop Saenplum, a 45-year-old lawyer. "The government should come from the people. The Abhisit administration didn't and it also failed to fix social and economic problems."

Abhisit's government warned that demonstrators might try to stir up trouble, though protest leaders denied they had violent intentions. The government invoked an emergency law earlier this week that would allow the military to restore order, and police were mobilized around the site.

The crowd began to dissipate late Saturday and no major trouble was reported.

Saturday's clashes near the Thai border with Cambodia were linked to a decades-old dispute over land. Cambodia was awarded control over the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in 1962, but Thailand claims a portion of the land.

The People's Alliance for Democracy seized on the land issue last year to stir up nationalist sentiment and attract support, accusing the government of failing to defend Thailand's sovereignty.

Hundreds of Thai villagers who opposed Saturday's protest and hundreds of marchers clashed, both sides armed with sticks, slingshots and other homemade weapons. Police, who were ordered to show restraint, only carried riot shields making it difficult for them to fend off attacks by the alliance's marchers.

Abhisit told the army and police to negotiate with the protesters, who agreed to send a small group near the temple to make their statement on Sunday. The protesters began withdrawing Saturday night under police escort.

Clashes over Thai-Cambodia border

Preah Vihear has been scene of deadly clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops [EPA]

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Thai "Yellow Shirt" protesters have clashed with police and villagers at an ancient temple in territory at the centre of a dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.

At least 15 people were injured in northeastern Sisaket province after members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) tried to march to the gates of the temple near land claimed by both Thailand and Cambodia, demanding the Thai government seize the disputed territory.

Protesters broke through barricades in attempts to reach the 11th century Preah Vihear temple near the border with Cambodia on Saturday.

Thai riot police used their shields to push back protesters armed with sticks who were trying to beat local villagers.

'Splinter group' blamed

Wayne Hay, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the region, said about 4,000 protesters had descended on the disputed border with Cambodia "to try to force some Cambodian villagers out of the area and back into Cambodia proper".

"There is a Thai police blockade that the PAD broke through with a bit of violence and also about four or five hundred villagers came out to try to stop the PAD from progressing," Hay said.

"There are also some skirmishes. We are hearing that there were several injuries as [protesters] went through that police blockade."

The PAD's leaders in Bangkok had distanced themselves from the protest, saying that a "splinter group" was behind it, Hay said.

Tear gas deployed

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister, said security forces were trying to persuade the protesters to back down, amid fears that their actions could spark further conflict with Cambodia.

"I am asking the police and soldiers to negotiate with the PAD," he told reporters in Bangkok.

The temple, granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008, has been the scene of several deadly battles between Thai and Cambodian troops over the past year.

Cambodia said on Thursday it had deployed riot police with dogs, batons and tear gas at the temple.

Deaths in gunbattle

The Yellow Shirts have demanded that the government push Cambodian forces out of the disputed area around it.

The two countries have been at loggerheads for decades over Preah Vihear.

The World Court ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear belonged to Cambodia.

But Thailand retains rights to enter the ancient Khmer temple, which has crumbling stone staircases and elegant carvings.

A gunbattle in the temple area in April left three people dead while four people died in clashes in 2008.

RED SHIRTS

Supporters of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gather in the rain at the royal plaza in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Thai nationalists clashed with police and villagers Saturday as they tried to march on an ancient temple on the Cambodian border, while anti-government protesters in the capital marked the third anniversary of a coup that continues to create political turmoil.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A supporter of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra holds up a poster with his portrait during a rally at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand's government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday September 15, giving the military broad powers to control the planned rally on the third anniversary of the coup that led to Thaksin's ouster REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

A supporter of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra holds up a poster during a rally at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand's government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday giving the military broad powers to control a rally this weekend by supporters of Thaksin on the third anniversary of the coup that led to Thaksin's ouster. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

Supportters of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gather in the rain at royal plaza in Bangkok on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. More than 6,000 police were out in force Saturday in Thailand's capital as anti-government protesters marked the third anniversary of a military coup they say was a major setback for the democratic system. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Supportters of ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gather at royal plaza in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. More than 6,000 police were out in force Saturday in Thailand's capital as anti-government protesters marked the third anniversary of a military coup they say was a major setback for the democratic system. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup three years ago, gather under umbrellas in Royal Plaza Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand. Demonstrators were gather to mark the anniversary they claimed stalled democracy in Thailand.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Soldiers take part in a drill outside Government House in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand's government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday giving the military broad powers to control a planned rally this weekend by supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on the third anniversary of the coup that led to Thaksin's ouster. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Soldiers take part in a drill outside Government House in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand's government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday giving the military broad powers to control a planned rally this weekend by supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on the third anniversary of the coup that led to Thaksin's ouster. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Soldiers walk into Government House in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand's government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday giving the military broad powers to control a planned rally this weekend by supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on the third anniversary of the coup that led to Thaksin's ouster. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Soldiers walk inside Government House in Bangkok September 19, 2009. Thailand's government enacted a tough security law on Tuesday giving the military broad powers to control a planned rally this weekend by supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra on the third anniversary of the coup that led to Thaksin's ouster. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

Thai protesters mark Thaksin coup anniversary

More than 9,000 soldiers and police have been deployed throughout the city

The Red Shirts want current prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and hold elections

The putsch of September 19 plunged the kingdom into three years of political turmoil

By Thanaporn Promyamyai (AFP)

BANGKOK — Thousands of red-shirted protesters rallied in Thailand's capital amid tight security on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of a coup against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The putsch of September 19, 2006 plunged the kingdom into three years of political turmoil which shows little sign of ending, with supporters of the exiled Thaksin leading the latest round of protests.

Tensions rose further on Saturday when rival anti-Thaksin "Yellow Shirt" demonstrators clashed with police near an ancient temple on the disputed northeastern border with Cambodia.

In Bangkok, the government imposed a draconian internal security law for the latest "Red Shirt" demonstrations and deployed more than 9,000 soldiers and police to guard key locations.

"We came here today to mark the third anniversary of the coup, which has caused huge damage to the country," Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan told the crowd, as a thunderstorm drenched the protest site.

The Red Shirts want current prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and hold elections. Massive anti-government riots in April left two people dead and derailed a major Asian summit.

Police estimated that around 5,000 people had arrived at the protest site by the middle of the afternoon and that more would come for a video or telephone speech by Thaksin scheduled for the evening.

"This will be a peaceful protest and will end by midnight if the government does not use violence," Jatuporn said.

On the Cambodian border, around 5,000 demonstrators broke through barricades and were moving towards the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, the scene of several deadly battles between Thai and Cambodian troops over the past year.

Television footage showed yellow-clad protesters armed with sticks beating local villagers and Thai riot police, who pushed back with shields.

The staunchly royalist Yellow Shirts want the government to push out Cambodian forces from an area around the temple.

The Yellow Shirts helped bring down Thaksin in 2006 and effectively toppled the previous pro-Thaksin government in December when they blockaded Bangkok's airports, but have started to turn their fire on the current administration.

In Bangkok, Abhisit said he had ordered authorities to keep the peace at both protests and said there were reports that unidentified groups of troublemakers could set off bombs in the capital to create unrest.

"I have instructed officials to be aware of inciting incidents and to closely monitor the movements of those groups. I am worried about the situation tonight and have warned intelligence agencies," Abhisit told reporters.

Thailand remains deeply divided between supporters of the twice-elected Thaksin, who are concentrated in rural areas, and his foes in the Bangkok-based power cliques of the palace, military and bureaucracy.

Powerful army chief Anupong Paojinda on Friday denied rumours the military was about to stage a coup against Abhisit, who has been weakened by a recent battle with coalition partners over the new national police chief.

Abhisit is heading to New York at the weekend for the UN General Assembly -- and it was while billionaire Thaksin was out of the country to attend the same event that the military overthrew him in 2006.

The ongoing political chaos has damaged Thailand's image as a tourist-friendly destination and affected foreign investment in an already struggling, export-dependent economy.