Police have advised the public to avoid four main roads near Victory Monument on Saturday afternoon as demonstrators seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will turn the area into a large rally site.
The Metropolitan Police Bureau on Friday recommended staying away from the sections of Din Daeng, Phahon Yothin, Phaya Thai and Ratchawithi roads leading to the monument.
The rally is scheduled to begin at 10am and end at 9pm. The stage will be erected facing Din Daeng Road, organisers said.
Police estimate there will be around 5,000 demonstrators, while the rally organisers expect at least twice that number.
The protest is being held by a group calling itself Ruam Palang Paen Din Pok Pong Athipatai (“United Power of the Land to Protect Sovereignty”).
Among the group’s leaders is former red-shirt stalwart Jatuporn Prompan, who has become an outspoken critic of the Shinawatra family, and Sondhi Limthongkul, who led the yellow-shirt protests that shut down Bangkok’s two airports in 2008.
Some artists and entertainers will be joining them in what is expected to be the first major demonstration against Ms Paetongtarn.
They will demand that she step down after a the leak of an embarrassing recording of a conversation she had with former Cambodian premier Hun Sen on June 15. Ms Paetongtarn called him “uncle” and was heard calling Second Army Region commander Lt Gen Boonsin Padklang one of her opponents.
The protesters will urge all coalition parties to abandon the Pheu Thai Party to put pressure on Ms Paetongtarn to give up administrative power.
Mr Sondhi on Friday urged people to turn up at the monument to oust the prime minister accused of demonstrating ill intentions towards the country.
“We are talking about the prime minister who seems to want to give Thailand to her ‘uncle’,” the media mogul said. (Story continues below)
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will be the focus of what is expected to be a large rally to call for her resignation at Victory Monument on Saturday. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
Early arrivals
One of the group’s leaders, Pichit Chaimongkol, said on Friday afternoon that protesters were already arriving, which prompted organisers to move up Saturday’s originally scheduled start time from 3pm.
Panthep Puapongpan, a leading group member, said activities would start at 10am with a Buddhist ceremony commemorating the 84th anniversary of the Victory Monument to honour fallen heroes, adding that the highlight of the rally itself would be the singing of the national anthem at 6pm.
He said the group had received sufficient donations to fund the rally, with an estimated surplus of over 20 million baht to be donated to the 2nd Army Region to enhance its defence capabilities.
Mr Jatuporn warned against any attempts to prevent people from other parts of the country from joining the protest, urging provincial governors nationwide not to interfere.
Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has called on people planning to join the protest to exercise restraint and avoid actions that could deepen national divisions.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said a command centre would be set up to oversee the rally for safety and order purposes.
