Reuters:

Prolonged Thai rally in Nov

Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s supporters announced plans on Tuesday for a prolonged street protest beginning in late November and lasting until the government steps down and calls elections.

It would be the first protracted demonstration by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) since their protests in April turned violent and were forcibly ended by the army.

‘The government is incompetent with only a self-serving agenda. We want the government to return power to the people and we will not stop until we finish the job,’ Jatuporn Phrompan, one of the key protest leaders said, adding that the plan is still tentative and is subject to discussion with other members.

(Emphasis mine.)

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That’s the title of this post at Prachatai, which describes the PAD rally that took place here in Bangkok on Sunday:

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) took to the stage at Sanam Luang with intense nationalism. Fiery nationalist rhetoric was stressed and repeated, while decades-old nationalist anti-communist songs were played throughout. The ‘Hun Sen Model’ was the latest term introduced to characterize the Cambodian leader. A larger rally was called for 5 Dec.

On 15 Nov, on stage with a pink backdrop which read in Thai ‘Unite the Strength of the Land. Protect Nation, Religion and King’, and in English ‘Fight for Thailand. Fight for our King’, the event started around 4 pm with some lesser known speakers.

Prasert Lertyaso called for the beheading of Hun Sen, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, and Thaksin Shinawatra, alluding to an old Thai saying of shedding blood to wash royal feet. He banished Thaksin’s supporters to Phnom Penh and Dubai.

Saken Sutthiwong said that Cambodia was afraid that [Thai] F16 fighter jets would miss their targets and bomb Angkor Wat and Prear Vihear instead, because they earn their living from those ‘old stones’. Afterwards he sang ‘Ayutthaya’ and ‘Bang Rajan War’ songs which are about defending the country from its enemies, the Burmese in this case. He said he wanted Cambodia to get rich, so it could take its tens of thousands of beggars back home. Cambodian people are poor, as can be seen on TV when they storm through the border checkpoint like hell breaking loose. Thailand is not like that, because the Thai people have the King and Queen, he said.

(Emphasis mine.)

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Just briefly: The Nov. 12 issue of The Economist has a story about Thaksin and Hun Sen. I won’t post any excerpts as it’s quite short. Give it a read.

(Via BP).

UPDATE: In other news, a blast at a PAD rally on Sunday injured 12 people. AFP has this item:

Grenade caused anti-Thaksin rally blast: Thai police

BANGKOK — Thai police said Monday that a grenade was responsible for a blast at a rally by opponents of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, as the number of injured rose to 12.

Organisers said the small explosion at the protest in central Bangkok late Sunday was caused by a firecracker thrown by men on a motorcycle, but police said they now believed it was a more serious attack.

(Emphasis mine.)

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Reuters has a summary of the latest developments in the Thaksin-Cambodia-Thailand saga:

Thai Crisis Deepens as Thaksin Finds Cambodian Base

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Emboldened by a rousing welcome in Cambodia, fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra is rallying supporters from just over the border, upping the ante in Thailand’s political crisis.

After accusing Thailand’s rulers of “false patriotism” in a speech in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Thaksin huddled with more than 20 supporters and leaders of his red-shirted, anti-government protest movement who traveled from Thailand.

That number will swell on Friday when about 100 supporters plan to gather in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap, about 150 km (90 miles) from the Thai border, according to Puea Thai, an incarnation of Thaksin’s disbanded Thai Rak Thai party.

The prospect of the billionaire — who the Thai government sees as a criminal — running a political campaign from across the border rattled investors, sending Thai stock prices tumbling nearly 3 percent on concern of more instability in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.

Royalists aligned with the military, who wear the king’s traditional color of yellow, plan a demonstration of their own on Sunday in Bangkok to denounce Thaksin and Cambodia, threatening to deepen the political and diplomatic impasse.

(Emphasis mine.)

Worth reading the whole thing.

Previous Thaksin-Cambodia-Thailand posts are here and here and here.

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I didn’t have time to note this sad news yesterday, but wanted to point it out since I’ve blogged about soccer and goalkeeping in the past.

Robert Enke, the goalkeeper for the German national soccer team and club side Hannover 96, committed suicide on Tuesday. He was 32 years old. Enke was in the running to be Germany’s starting goalkeeper at the World Cup this summer.

He leaves behind his wife and their eight-month-old daughter. Enke had battled depression, his wife says. He killed himself by stepping in front of a train in Hannover.

The New York Times/IHT has a story about his death. There’s more from the AP and CNN.

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