The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship has cancelled its merit-making rite for those killed on April 10, 2010, scheduled at a temple in Pathum Thani on Friday, when soldiers showed up and issued a banning order, UDD leader Jatuporn Promphan said on Thursday.
In a message posted on his Facebook, Mr Jatuporn said a group of soldiers entered Wat Kerdkarn Udom in Khlong Luang district, the venue for the April 10, 2013 service, on Thursday afternoon, even though he and relatives of the dead red-shirt protesters had informed the National Council for Peace and Order that the event was religious, not political.
“But the police and soldiers will not allow it to proceed. As a result, the merit-making and commemoration of the deaths on April 10, 2010 had to be scrapped entirely,” Mr Jatuporn said.
Shortly after Mr Jatuporn’s posting, NCPO spokesman Col Winthai Suwaree said military officers were sent to the temple to explain that no matter which temple or area the red shirts used for the service venue, authorities would not allow it to go ahead if it involved a group of people.
He said the military did not prohibit people from making merit but prohibited the “UDD from organising a public gathering”.
Col Winthai said people outside of the families of the deceased could still make merit for the deaths by giving alms to the families to pass on to monks on their behalf, instead of attending the event in person.
The red shirts orginally planned to hold the event at Khok Wua intersection but were pressured by the NCPO to scrap the plan. The group then moved it to Wat Phlapphlachai in Bangkok's Pom Prap Sattruphai district, only to face the same fate.
The NCPO said it barred the service out of concern the UDD-sponsored event could have ventured into the political arena. The proposed venues were also symbols of the 2010 political violence and people who would have attended Friday's event represent a political faction.
The UDD agreed to back off by relocating the venue to the Pathum Thani temple with promises that UDD leaders would not attend. But the NCPO banned it anyway.