BANGKOK, April 3 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters converged on Bangkok's shopping district today, forcing major retailers to close while accusing authorities of neglecting the poor on the 21st day of a mass rally seeking snap elections.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's embattled government deployed 50,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel in the city after caravans of the anti-government, red-shirted protesters travelled from rural areas to the Thai capital.
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| Thakshin supporters at the Bangkok rally. Reuters |
At least half a dozen shopping malls including Central
World -- the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia -- shut their doors in response to protests and threats by the "red shirts" to stay overnight in the usually bustling area popular with tourists and Bangkok's upper and middle classes.
"We cannot let Mr. Abhisit rule the country any longer," Jatuporn Prompan, a "red shirt" leader, told the crowd. "We say it has no legitimacy to rule." Backed by Thailand's powerful military, Abhisit has said a peaceful poll now would be difficult given the tensions and has offered to dissolve parliament in December, a year early.
The mostly rural and urban poor protesters are demanding he call immediate elections and threatening more protests in coming days, extending a mass street rally that began on March 14 when up to 150,000 "red shirts" converged on Bangkok's old quarter.
Analysts say British-born Abhisit would likely lose an election if it were held now, raising investment risks in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy following a $1.6 billion surge of foreign investment in Thai stocks over the past month on expectations Abhisit will survive the showdown.
sAdding to the tension, more than 1,000 people who oppose
the protesters held their own rally on Friday, donning pink shirts and saying the "red shirts" were unreasonable in their demands to dissolve parliament and were making life difficult in Bangkok. |
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