This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001376 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC TH SNAP TRT
SUBJECT: THAI POLITICAL UPDATE: DUELING DEMOS 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 1180 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 0538 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, reason 1.4 (b) (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: Thaksin's ruling Thai Rak Thai had the 
bigger demonstration, but the opposition rally on Sunday had 
more spirit.  Thaksin promised more of everything: political 
reform, transparency and, by the way, a pay raise for civil 
servants.  The opposition scored by turning out a bigger 
crowd this week than previously, and by marching on the 
Democracy Monument and on Government House without incident. 
Police behaved correctly throughout the Sunday protest, 
however, the concern remains that discipline could break on 
one side or the other,  resulting in a situation that will 
bring problems to a head. More groups have joined the 
anti-Thaksin campaign; the latest is a group of "academics 
and royal relatives" who have petitioned the King to 
intervene and appoint an short-term interim government to 
oversee some constitutional changes and new elections. 
 
IN THIS CORNER... 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (C)  Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) led off the 
weekend's events with a very large rally on Sanam Luang field 
on the evening of Friday, March 3.  By the time Poloffs 
arrived at Sanam Luang at 8pm, there was already a large 
crowd of around 200,000 people gathered to listen to PM 
Thaksin's speech; some estimates put the crowd at over 
300,000.  Most of the audience appeared to be from the 
countryside, with a number of middle-aged men and women.  The 
streets were almost devoid of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers as 
many attended the rally; most of these drivers are from the 
countryside themselves, and they make up a big part of 
Thaksin's urban support base.  Although the turnout was quite 
impressive, the crowd was noticeably unenthused and seemed 
removed from what was happening on stage, especially when 
compared to the anti-Thaksin rallies.  Some walked around 
with cardboard posters on wooden sticks, but many were like 
one 50-something woman who lugged her banner backwards over 
her shoulders with a cigarette in the other hand as she 
circled the crowd sluggishly.  As large as the crowd was, the 
people quickly disbanded and left as soon as Thaksin finished 
his speech and left; the field emptied out within 20 minutes. 
 
¶3.  (U) In Thaksin's speech, he defended his actions related 
to the controversial Shin Corp sale (ref B).  He also made a 
number of promises.  First, he pledged that he would not 
accept the PM position after the election if TRT received 
less than 50 percent of the total votes cast -- meaning more 
than the total of their opponents and the "no vote" ballots. 
He said that the new Parliament would focus on amending the 
constitution and would call for a second snap election in 
nine to 15 months, after political reform is completed.  He 
said he would have a media representative sit in on all 
procurement committees for projects over 100 million baht. 
He also promised to raise civil servant salaries in 2007. 
The Democrat Party asked the Electoral Commission to check 
the speech for violations of campaign law, arguing that his 
promises of a pay raise to civil servants could be construed 
as vote-buying. 
 
AND, WEIGHING IN AT 150,000... 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4.  (C)  The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) 
demonstration on March 5 was a very different affair.  The 
crowd was perhaps half the size of Thaksin's, but it was 
considerably larger than the previous anti-Thaksin 
demonstrations had been (ref  A).   If last week's PAD 
demonstration was approximately 120,000, we would put this 
one at about 150,000.  The crowd was also far more fired up 
than we had seen at any previous demonstration.   There were 
more students and younger people; participants of all ages 
did not just sit and listen, but responded whole-heartedly to 
the speakers and musicians.  In part, this was because the 
speeches were a small part of the evening.  Demonstrators 
visited the "booths" set up by FTAWatch and various 
anti-Thaksin groups, each distributing flyers, posters, 
selling T-shirts, hats and buttons, and displaying a 
remarkable number of caricatures of Thaksin as Hitler or the 
devil.  The Thammasat University Chinese Opera debuted their 
latest production, full of satirical references to Thaksin's 
troubles.  At 9:00, the demonstrators began to form up for 
the march on the Democracy Monument, less than a kilometer 
away down a main street.  Most of the crowd on the field 
joined the march, singing and chanting "Thaksin -- get out;" 
the march was led by hundreds of the eerily-silent "Dharma 
Army", adherents of a strict Buddhist sect, many of whom 
marched barefoot (ref A).   Unlike previous demonstrations, 
members of the crowd made a point of approaching Poloff 
observers to shout their slogans in English.  The crowd was 
disciplined and very well organized -- hundreds of banners 
and protest placards, tens of thousands of small Thai flags 
waiving, large yellow and blue flags leading the way.   The 
police behaved correctly throughout, although they appeared 
more worried than they had at the Feb. 26 demonstration.   We 
noted the absence of female police officers, who had helped 
screen the demonstrators last week. 
 
¶5. (C)  After some speeches at the Democracy Monument, the 
word spread that the crowd would march on Government House. 
Poloff, who arrived at Government House ahead of the 
demonstrators, spoke to the sound crew who arrived to set up 
the lights and loudspeakers.  According to them, the PAD had 
considered marching on the PM's house, but had been warned 
off that move by police during consultations before the demo 
began.  Government House was an acceptable alternative to 
both sides.  Police along the route stopped the demonstrators 
at several points to delay their arrival at Government House 
while more police were moved into position, but they did not 
try to prevent the marchers from proceeding.  The Dharma Army 
had an impromptu kitchen set up on the sidewalk near 
Government House with hot soup ready for their marchers by 
the time the crowd turned up; clearly, the police were 
expecting their visitors.  Here again, the crowd was very 
disciplined, with designated staff linking arms to prevent 
the crowd surging forward, using megaphones and loudspeakers 
to keep the march under control.  We understand that PAD had 
supporters along the march route armed with video cameras, to 
document any provocations (and prove their own innocence). 
Estimates of the number of demonstrators who arrived at 
Government House at about 11:30 pm ranged from 20,000 to 
50,000.  The crowd disbursed from Government House around 2 
am, according to press reports; Dharma Army members returned 
to Sanam Luang to camp out and participate in the next round: 
the PAD says that the demonstration will continue this 
evening and every evening until Thaksin resigns.   They are 
expected to march on Government House again tonight, and some 
will sleep there and stay to protest during the Cabinet 
meeting on Tuesday. 
 
THE KING -- AGAIN 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Adding to Thaksin's woes, the independent press 
highlighted the latest group to take a public, anti-Thaksin 
stand.  A group of over 100 "academics and royal relatives" 
petitioned the King on March 3 to remove Thaksin as PM and 
appoint a short-term interim government to oversee 
constitutional changes and new elections.  The petition says 
that Thaksin  "lost legitimacy because he unjustly dissolved 
Parliament and worsened the situation."   The signatories 
include a number of well-known Thaksin critics, among them 
current and former university rectors, anti-corruption 
officials, former ambassadors and other members of the "A" 
list. 
 
COMMENT 
---------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  The threat that the crowd would march out of Sanam 
Luang on March 5 had inspired many predictions of chaos, 
violence and provocations.   In the end, both police and 
protestors showed discipline and restraint.  The march was 
impressive, but not enough, by itself, to make Thaksin 
reconsider his refusal to step down.  Although both sides 
have pledged to maintain this kind of discipline, the concern 
remains that one side or the other will get too tired and 
frustrated with the continuing standoff, possibly leading to 
a provocation or a miscalculation 
 
¶8. (C)  Thaksin's offer of a short-lived Parliament to 
consider constitutional reform is a clever move.  It may take 
some of the steam out of his less-committed opponents, who 
might reconcile themselves to the prospect of another year of 
Thaksin followed by a more serious chance to unseat him in 
elections.  The civil service pay hikes are not a bad idea 
either.  Thaksin's popularity in the countryside is largely 
based on his populist measures like the village development 
funds, which make low-interest loans for villagers.   It's 
time for him to bolster his support in the capital with 
measures to spread the wealth to the urban-dwellers as well. 
The election -- if it happens -- is less than a month away. 
 
 
 
BOYCE