PRIME Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha this morning (April 2) mocked red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan who has called for a demonstration on Sunday April 4 to pressure him to step down by pointing out that other people, including some former red shirt leaders, do not support this move while warning Jatuporn not to stir up trouble, Sanook.com said.
Jatuporn, as head of the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as red shirts, called this demonstration on behalf of People’s Unity Group for Thailand.
Gen. Prayut said it is up to Jatuporn what he does but he urged him not to break the law nor stir up trouble and create problems for the nation as happened in the past, and let the past be a lesson.
When asked how he found out that some former red shirt leaders do not support Jatuporn’s move, whether they had contacted him or did he find out via the media, the Prime Minister replied that he heard it over television.
Asked whether he was worried about Jatuporn’s move, Gen Prayut countered by saying there was no reason for him to worry when the latter is the one taking the right or wrong action. It is for society and officials to decide.
However he asked whether people in this country want something like this to occur. He then told reporters to remind people of what happened in 2010.
The 2010 Thai political protests were a series of political protests that were organised by the UDD in Bangkok from March 12 – May 19, 2010 against the Democrat Party-led government., Wikipedia said.
The UDD called for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections earlier than the end of term elections scheduled in 2012. The UDD demanded that the government stand down, but negotiations to set an election date failed.Â
The protests escalated into prolonged violent confrontations between the protesters and the military, and attempts to negotiate a ceasefire failed. More than 80 civilians and six soldiers were killed, and more than 2,100 injured by the time the military violently put down the protest on May 19.
CAPTION:
Top: Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, left, and red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, right. Thai headline says, “want a repeat of 2010?” Photo: Sanook.com
