Members of all red-shirt groups in Chiang Mai and Lamphun will wear black and wave black flags to symbolise their fight against the independent agencies and the Constitutional Court in their rally, starting from Sunday.
Red shirts converge on Pibulwitthayalai School in Lop Buri in a warm-up before the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship’s planned major rally on Utthayan Road in Bangkok’s Thawi Watthana district on Monday. PATIPAT JANTHONG
Red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) groups in these two northern provinces have recently posted messages on their Facebook pages urging their members to don black.
The rallies will be a show of force against what they call the injustice of independent agencies and the Constitutional Court, which is expected to rule on the status of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in the Thawil Pliensri transfer case early this month.
Ms Yingluck could be forced to resign if the court rules against her.
Last month, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the transfer of Mr Thawil as National Security Council secretary-general was unlawful and ordered him to be reinstated.
A member of the so-called ''Sereechon Lanna'' (Free Men) group, a red-shirt group in Lamphun, yesterday said they had notified members in the province via community radio stations and social networks to converge on Larn Chao Mae Jam Thewee Shrine at 8am on May 4 before marching to Chiang Mai to join the other red shirts.
A military source said the 3rd Army has ordered its soldiers and an intelligence-gathering unit in the North to keep an eye on local red-shirt leaders.
The soldiers have also been asked to run background checks on the leaders, added the source.
Meanwhile, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday met to work out measures to deal with a UDD rally on Monday on Utthayan Road in Bangkok, which UDD chairman Jatuporn Promphan had earlier announced would take place.
Deputy city clerk Banchong Sukdee said the previous UDD rally in Thawi Watthana district drew many complaints from residents living in the area as they had difficulty getting into their housing communities. A report by Thawi Watthana district said almost 300 households were affected.
Three housing estates — Sin-aksa, Boonsiri and Nanthawan— have only one access route and it was blocked by the protest.
The city administration has asked the district office to find alternative routes for residents.
Mr Banchong said the BMA has coordinated with the UDD to at least partially open access routes to the communities. Two other housing estates — Na Utthayan and Nobel Uthayan — could be affected by the UDD rally, he said.
On the same day, the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee also plans to march to Sanam Luang and the Grand Palace to mark Coronation Day.
The UDD initially planned to hold the rally on Tuesday, one day before the Constitutional Court is set to hear caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's testimony in the Thawil transfer case. However, Mr Jatuporn had said he had to change the date to Monday, as PDRC leader Suthep Thaugsuban announced he will hold a rally on that day too.