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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS; NSC FOR PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TH
SUBJECT: THAKSIN FOES DRAW THOUSANDS TO ANTI-GOVERNMENT 
PROTEST IN BANGKOK 
 
REF: BANGKOK 972 (CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BLUES) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy 
(PAD) mobilized a higher-than-expected 11,000 demonstrators 
at its first post-coup rally held on March 28 at a renowned 
Thai university.  PAD leaders joined with prominent academics 
to protest the new Thai government's policies and oppose 
recently-announced plans to amend the constitution.  There 
were reports that a confrontation with a smaller group of 
government supporters at a nearby counter-demonstration 
briefly turned violent; however, police successfully kept the 
two animated crowds apart.  PAD declared the event a success 
and vowed to organize more protests, suggesting that the 2006 
coup and the new constitution have done little to heal 
divisions in Thai society.  End summary. 
 
RETURN OF THE PAD 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Approximately 11,000 anti-government demonstrators led 
by a reinvigorated People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) held 
their first rally in nearly two years at Bangkok's renowned 
Thammasat University on the evening of March 28.  PAD leaders 
at the largely peaceful protest railed against the policies 
of the People's Power Party (PPP)-led government and 
denounced plans to amend the constitution (reftel).  Prior to 
the September 2006 coup, PAD organized massive 
anti-government rallies in Bangkok that attracted as many as 
150,000 demonstrators.  PAD suspended their protests 
following the coup, declaring success after the ouster of 
former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. 
 
¶3. (U) Leading PAD members and outspoken anti-Thaksin 
academics railed against the PPP-led government during the 
rally, which lasted approximately five hours.  Chief among 
the PAD's complaints were the transfers earlier this year of 
prominent bureaucrats in sensitive positions, including a 
prominent Justice Ministry official overseeing a criminal 
case against Thaksin.  PAD opposed prospective amendments to 
the constitution, accusing the PPP of abusing its power to 
avoid its dissolution for alleged election fraud.  PAD also 
blamed the PPP for selfishly plotting to use the amendment 
process to grant amnesty to members of the former Thai Rak 
Thai executive board who are constitutionally barred from 
holding elected office.  The organizers mocked Prime Minister 
Samak Sundaravej and Thaksin in an hour-long Chinese opera 
spoof, complete with elaborate costumes, poetry, and original 
music.  The event's keynote speaker, PAD leader and media 
mogul Sondhi Limthhongkul, called Samak a "dictatorial 
capitalist" and claimed his government was "Thaksin's regime 
in disguise." 
 
SURPRISE TURNOUT 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Organizers had originally billed the event as an 
educational opportunity for the public to learn of the 
government's purported failings.  PAD also hoped to lay the 
groundwork for future protests.  PAD seemed unprepared for 
the higher-than-expected interest, however, and the 
5,000-seat auditorium which hosted the event was completely 
filled one hour before the event's official start time.  An 
estimated additional 4,000 enthusiastic protesters packed an 
overflow area in the auditorium's balcony, and occupied most 
of the remaining open space in the dangerously overcrowded 
room.  Organizers hastily arranged to broadcast live images 
of the event on smaller projection screens surrounding the 
auditorium for an additional 2,000 people who were unable to 
enter the auditorium.  Most protesters appeared to be 
middle-aged and middle-class Bangkok residents; many wore 
PAD-themed anti-Thaksin clothing apparently distributed at 
pre-coup PAD rallies. 
 
NOT ENTIRELY PEACEFUL 
--------------------- 
 
BANGKOK 00001021  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Interior Minister Chalerm Yoombamrung had boasted in 
mid-March that the PPP would mobilize a counter-protest to 
oppose the PAD rally.  The counter-rally was abruptly 
canceled on March 26, ostensibly to forestall a violent 
confrontation between the PAD and anti-PAD groups. 
Nevertheless, at least 300 boisterous anti-PAD demonstrators 
had gathered in a field several meters from the University 
campus by the afternoon in an allegedly impromptu 
counter-rally.  These demonstrators verbally attacked PAD 
leaders and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda, whom 
they accused of masterminding the coup which ousted Thaksin. 
Some of these protesters identified themselves to Embassy 
observers as Bangkok taxi drivers and provincial farmers from 
Thailand's Northeast, but did not specify who had organized 
their rally. 
 
¶6. (SBU) At approximately 7:00 p.m., there were reports that 
some anti-PAD protesters threw bottles and other objects at 
nearby PAD demonstrators and threatened to enter the 
Thammasat campus.  Security officials reacted swiftly, 
closing the university gates and rerouting pedestrian traffic 
half a kilometer away from the protest site.  PAD 
demonstrators inside the campus and the nearby anti-PAD group 
exchanged heated words well into the night, and the 
atmosphere remained tense until the protesters began to 
disperse on their own accord.  One media outlet reported that 
at around midnight Friday, unknown individuals threw stones, 
water bottles, and urine-filled containers at a bus filled 
with PAD protesters affiliated with a Buddhist sect whose 
leader, Chamlong Srimuang, is a core PAD member.  Eight 
people were reportedly injured, and one person was reportedly 
taken to a hospital for treatment. 
 
COMMON THEMES 
------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Despite the combative atmosphere, the two groups 
voiced surprisingly similar messages.  There was no love lost 
for the new constitution by either the PAD or anti-PAD 
groups.  However, while the PAD criticized the constitution 
for not having gone far enough to prevent the return of 
Thaksin, anti-PAD demonstrators claimed the charter's 
provisions were specifically targeted against the PPP.  Both 
groups also denounced the 2006 coup leaders -- the PAD felt 
they had not prosecuted Thaksin sufficiently, while the 
anti-PAD group felt they had gone too far. 
 
JUST THE FIRST ACT 
------------------ 
 
¶8. (U) In interviews with the press, PAD organizers hailed 
their return to the streets as a resounding success.  PAD 
spokesperson Suriyasai Katasila claimed the large turnout 
indicated widespread support for PAD's anti-government 
message, and called on citizens to protest the government's 
plans to amend the constitution.  PAD announced it would hold 
another rally in late April, and called for additional 
support from the public. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Although the majority of the Thai electorate is 
arguably tired of confrontation, the strong turnout at the 
PAD rally indicates that the 2006 coup and the 2007 elections 
have done little to resolve divisions in Thai society.  The 
first pre-coup PAD protests initially drew much smaller 
crowds than the March 28 rally; however, they grew rapidly in 
size following the disclosure of allegations that Thaksin 
abused power for his own financial gain.  Barring a similar 
galvanizing event, it is unclear whether PAD leaders can 
mobilize protests on as massive a scale this time around, but 
their early success in attracting disaffected citizens 
indicates the government cannot ignore them entirely. 
JOHN