Red Shirts defy Thai government's ultimatum

Red Shirt protesters in Bangkok have rejected the Thai government's ultimatum to get out of the capital by the end of the day. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says he will cut off power, water, food and transport from the area the demonstrators are occupying if they do not leave by the end of Wednesday.

Reuters

Thailand's government has told local residents to leave the area as it prepares to cut off supplies. After midnight, no one will be allowed in to the area.

But the protestors say they will continue their rally until Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban is charged for ordering troops to fire on demonstrators on 10 April. The shooting killed 25 people. They say they want Thaugsuban to publicly surrender himself to the police.

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Correspondent Arnaud Dubus in Bangkok

Christine Pizziol-Grière

"None of the Red Shirts are afraid of your threats to cut water and power," said protest leader Weng Tojirakarn. "We will run at soldiers with our two bare hands even if they fire at us with assault rifles."

“The government is trying to disperse the demonstrators without using violence, without using the security forces, but the demonstrators have their own power and water supply so I don’t think they will be affected by this threat," says correspondent Arnaud Dubus. "It seems that the government is trying to isolate the demonstrators in hopes they will leave because of exhaustion – the weather is very hot in Bangkok, it’s almost 40°.

Dubus says that many Thais are sympathetic to the protesters.

“We don’t have reliable statistics but it looks like the majority of the country, maybe somewhere between 60 and 65 per cent, are supporting the Red Shirts," he told RFI. "Not only the poor are supporting the Red Shirts movement, it’s much more diverse.”
 

The Red Shirts, who support the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have accepted Vejjajiva's proposal for elections in November but they want to force the government to take responsibility for the deaths in April.

"This is the beginning of measures to fully impose the law," said government spokesperson Sunsern Kaewkumnerd. "The army is ready, but at this moment I don't want to talk about a crackdown as we want to use measures to put pressure on them."

Over the weekend 5,000 more protesters arrived in the capital, defying a ban on rallies.

Since the protests began in March, 29 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 injured in Bangkok.

"We have made a decision to continue to call for justice for our people here," said another Red Shirt leader, Nattawut Saikuar. "If the government wants to take any more lives, they can come and get them here."