The Red Shirts started to pour into Bangkok today as they aim for nothing less than overthrowing the government this weekend. The Red Shirts who support and are guided by the former Premier Taksin Sinwawatra in fact started arriving yesterday but numbers were small and a handful of rallies went almost unnoticed. Today however their campaign cranked up a gear and from very early morning vehicles loaded with demonstrators wearing the trademark 'red shirts' began rolling into the city, with the TV channels carrying live coverage as column after column came chugging through Ayutthaya, the country's former capital, which is just over an hour away northwards. Today the Red Shirts are forming up at the historic and symbolic Royal Plaza in front of the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall, which is being turned into a giant car park for the weekend, a sea of red shirts and flags, as well as minibuses and pickups enveloping the towering equestrian statue of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). I get the bus from Victory Monument BTS Station. The station is unusually quiet for a Saturday, the bus is almost empty, shops have closed, and as I travel down Thanon Ratchawithi, it is also almost deserted. With fear of violence breaking out hanging in the air many Bangkok residents are staying well away. The whole length of Thanon Ratchadamnoen from Royal Plaza to Wat Ratchanatdaram has been given over to the protestors, with temporary shelters as well as P.A. systems and all manner of stands lining this usually gridlocked thoroughfare. The hub around which today's action will revolve is a red-themed stage at the intersection of Thanon Ratchadamnoen and Thanon Lan Luang in the shadow of Mahakan Fort, where music is playing and a large crowd is waving and excitedly cheering the passing traffic. This throng extends almost down a far as Democracy Monument. The police and army are in evidence at every turn, prepared for trouble with riot-shields and protective kit, but its a quite discreet presence today, they are keeping it low-key, but on standby and ready to react. The atmosphere is more one of a party, everyone is waving flags, cheering, shouting, blowing horns, singing and clapping - or fast asleep on the roadside. Water is constantly offered and hands are constantly shaken. So far the demonstration is good natured, everyone is cheery. But the avowed aim of the leaders is to bring the government down by Sunday night - and that isn't going to be achieved by a lively sing-song. While the majority of the Red Shirts are enjoying themselves the organisers have brought in their own guards, reportedly numbering 5,000, and these are huddled in clusters, in darker colours and many wrapped up - the present a more sinister side and the feeling is that trouble could be simmering. Any shift in a demonstration is always the work of a manipulating handful, and these may be them - or not as only time will tell. Events are moving fast, and rumours circulate round and round. It is reported that Thaksin Shinawatra has been kicked out of Dubai, which has been the base for his campaign, word says he's heading for Cambodia, then he Tweets his followers that he's making a trip to Europe, a wholly unconvincing line in the circumstances, which only adds to the speculation. There is talk that Arisman Pongruangrong, the leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship movement, has been arrested. Last week he ratcheted up the pressure on this weekend by calling on demonstrators to carry bottles of petrol and start fires if the protests were blocked, and he's also wanted in connection with the storming of the ASEAN summit in Pattaya last year. There are also reports circulating that homemade grenade launchers have been seized by the police from a car parts firm in Ayutthaya. The drama is unfolding. The Red Shirts continue to flow into Bangkok all day. Royal Plaza is packed solid with pickups and elderly buses by late afternoon with the traffic being funnelled into the giant square from Thanon Ratchawithi via Thanon Uthong Nai, which empties into it after winding its way round the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall. It's hard to gauge exact numbers, but the crowd is in the tens of thousands at least, still along way short of the 600,000 to a million the organisers are hoping to bring in, and still short of a number that could send a government into retreat. However the Red Shirts are still flooding in, heeding the rallying call, and tomorrow is be the big day.
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Red Fight for Thaksin!by astvtube5,602 views
ถึง พระองค์ จะ จบ แค่ ม.6 รึ เรียน ไม่ จบ ก็ ตาม
แต่ สิ่ง ที่ พระองค์ ทำ ให้ กับ พวก เรา คน ไทย (คนไทยจริงๆ นะ พวก คุณ มัน ก็แค่กาฝากของแผ่นดินของพระองค์)
มัน มี ค่า มาก กว่า คน จบ ดร. ซะ อิก คุณ
neung1114 1 year ago
ไอ้เย็ดแม่ลูกกะหรี่ภูมิพลสันดานมันเป็นหมาลอบกัดแต่ตัวมันไม่มีปัญญาเพราะไอ้ชาติหมาเหี้ยบอดภูมิพลแม่งจบแค่ม.๖แต่ทําตัวเป็นผู้ตรัสรู้เก่งฉกาจทุกอย่างไอ้บอดอัปรีย์ภูมิพลเป็นผู้บงการฆ่าสังหารคนเสื้อแดงพวกกรูจะเอาไอ้เหี้ยสั่งฆ่าขึ้นศาลโลกมึงก็คอยดูก็แล้วกันส่วนลูหลานมึงก็จะถูกเก็บให้สิ้นโครตจักรีกาฝากจัลไรอัปรีย์เย็ดแม่มึง
aibawdphumipon 1 year ago
die for nothing ..peace
waithala 1 year ago
Red shit
ellon444 1 year ago
@gookkagook why??
Anguny 1 year ago
@ping1219 fuck reds
Anguny 1 year ago
GO REDS!
ping1219 1 year ago
Poor people have to deal with stupid government... Hope they win
purebosanac 1 year ago
whoever think RED BUFFALOS are great and the best.all of u go to hell and the karma will come to your family and the next generation to come..u will see and wait..tour demon leader is die in dubai u fucking BUFFALOS still stupid fighting for nothing...im so sorry for your stupidity...BANOGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG EDOKKKKKKKKKKK ENANG PUD MAc
cuteko7764 1 year ago
Why dont they go back home because the red leaders have connection with terrorists and they are using them as humen shield. Seem like red is the trend not the real believers of democracy at all. They have no standing point of believing only bring them up with hatred and riot just exactly Terrorists! Give us back Our Bangkok!
kannika12 1 year ago