More than 30,000 “Red Shirt” supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra submitted a petition yesterday seeking a royal pardon for Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister, deepening the kingdom’s political rifts.
Organizers said they had collected 3.5 million signatures in support of Thaksin, who was toppled in a military coup in 2006 and fled abroad last August to escape a two-year jail term for corruption.
“I would like to say thank you to my fellow Thais, who have a good attitude towards me and to Thailand,” Thaksin said in a speech broadcast live by video from an undisclosed location to the cheering crowd in Bangkok.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“We are here today to inform our father, the king of every Thai, that we want to see unity and reconciliation,” said Thaksin, wearing the trademark red shirt favored by his supporters.
ROYAL SONG
Billionaire tycoon Thaksin then turned to a portrait of Thailand’s widely revered, 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the royal family and sang a traditional royal song.
“I pledge in front of the portrait of the king and queen and in front of the Thai people that myself and my family will be loyal to the king and the Chakri Dynasty until the last day of my life,” he said.
In their latest mass show of support for Thaksin, the protest group submitted their petition to the royal offices in Bangkok’s Grand Palace in the afternoon. The petition was packed in 10 boxes wrapped in red cloth.
Police Major General Vichai Sangkapai confirmed that 30,000 people joined the rally and that 1,500 uniformed officers had been deployed but the rally remained peaceful.
Demonstrators began dispersing after the petition was delivered, witnesses said.
WARNING
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who took office in December, has warned Thaksin’s supporters against signing the petition and said only Thaksin or his family were allowed to submit it.
Thaksin’s backers forced the cancelation of a major Asian summit in April and then rioted for two days in Bangkok before a crackdown by the army. Two people were killed and 123 injured.
Rival royalist “Yellow Shirts” shut down Bangkok’s airports late last year, triggering the collapse of the previous, pro-Thaksin government and ushering Abhisit to power.
Twice-elected Thaksin still enjoys huge support among Thailand’s poor, particularly in rural northern parts of the country, but is hated by the Bangkok-based elite in the palace, military and establishment.
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