Thai "red shirts" soften tone as leaders free
By Ambika Ahuja and Martin Petty
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's anti-government "red shirts" will respect the result of an upcoming election, providing the polls are fair and see no reason to stage a protracted protest, their leader said on Wednesday.
The movement, which has held paralyzing, at times bloody, protests in the past two years against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's military-backed government, was celebrating a "new beginning" and a cooling in the political temperature following Tuesday's release on bail of their leaders.
"It's the dawn of justice and there is a little light you can see," Thida Tojirakarn, acting chairwoman of the group, told Reuters in an interview.
"This is not the time for a protracted protest, especially after their release. The reasons for a long protest are fewer. If the leaders hadn't been released, the atmosphere would be very different ... People will now be happy," she said.
Thida's husband, Weng Tojirakarn, is among seven group leaders charged with terrorism after riots, arson and clashes with the military during a 10-week protest from March to May that killed 91 people and wounded more than 1,800 in the country's worst political violence in recent history.
Their rally last to demand an immediate election included a blockade of roads and a shutdown of the capital's main luxury shopping and hotel district.
Most members of the anti-government group, who include many rural and urban poor, support ousted former populist premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thida said the red shirts would still hold regular, brief and peaceful rallies to call for the release of more than 100 jailed supporters and demand a comprehensive, transparent investigation into the deaths of demonstrators.
The state investigation has been largely inconclusive.
The red shirts would "monitor" the election, which Abhisit wants to hold around the middle of the year, to ensure it reflected the will of the people, she added.
But if the polls were fair, the red shirts would respect the result, even if it returned Abhisit's Democrat Party to power.
"We will accept any party. If the Democrats win, we will accept. But we will fight against a coup or if there is something unfair," she said, threatening more protests if there were blatant signs of political interference by the military.
"NO TRUE DEMOCRACY"
The red shirt movement, which she described as "bigger than ever", would not officially endorse any party, but it was likely most members would vote for the country's biggest opposition party, Puea Thai, she said.
Puea Thai is largely under the control of the twice-elected Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.
The red shirts had been inspired by anti-government movements in the Middle East, although Thida said the military in Thailand would always back the influential "aristocrats".
"It's encouraging for us to see the public across the world standing up and fighting against illegitimate rulers," she said.
"In our case, there is no true democracy and they can still stage a coup and kill people without taking responsibility."
Abhisit rejects accusations his government came to power illegitimately, saying he was able to cobble together a majority in parliament.
Thida's husband Weng, who was among the movement's leaders released on bail, said he was optimistic political tension in divided Thailand would ease, but warned of a violent uprising if the will of the people was ignored.
"Thailand has no true democracy and is still ruled by the unelected elite. If they keep going forward without concessions, I fear people will rise up again," said Weng, a medical doctor and former student activist against past military governments.
"As we have seen in the Middle East, the world has changed and the power should be with the people."
(Editing by Alan Raybould and Robert Birsel)
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