Over 1,000 "red-shirt" supporters to join anniversary rally

More than 1,000 "red-shirt" supporters in the three northern provinces of Chiang Mai, Lampun and Lampang were ready to join the planned mass rally in Bangkok on next Thursday, said a coordinator on Saturday.

Saharat Nonthamal, a leader of northern red-shirt group, said he was confident that the mass gathering of the red shirts would be peaceful as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had already dissolved the House of Representatives to pave the way for a fresh general election.

The anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as "red-shirt" movement, is to hold a mass gathering at central business district of Ratchaprasong intersection on May 19 to mark the first anniversary of the protests last May.

From March to May last year, the group, backed by the ousted ex- PM Thaksin Shinawatra and the opposition Puea Thai Party, held protests in Bangkok and other provinces in order to demand the Democrat-led government to step down and immediately call for a snap election.

As the situation escalated, the government decided to forcefully disperse the demonstrators. As a result, some 91 people were killed and almost 1,900 others wounded in the clashes between troops and protesters.

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