Massive Anti-Coup Demonstration in Bangkok

Minor violence erupted when police tried to block the marchers at the Makkhawan Bridge. Demonstrators threw assorted objects at some 2,000 police and security personnel and managed to remove some steel barricades before dumping them into a nearby canal.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-Gen. Adisorn Nonsee said arrest warrants will be sought on Monday for eight core leaders of DAAD, based on existing photos and TV footage.

The protesters were met by pro-Prem supporters who had lined up outside his house. Both sides were sporting yellow shirts as supporters of His Majesty the King. There was no violence.

Gen Prem, a former army commander-in-chief who was prime minister between 1979 to 1988, has been accused by the DAAD as being the mastermind of the Sept 19 military coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The DAAD, a loose coalition of anti-coup groups, charged that Gen Prem abused his position at the Privy Council to interfere with Thai politics.

Speaking through loudspeakers on the back of a truck, DAAD core leader Veera Musikapong claimed that the protests will continue until Gen Prem resigns from his post. Realistically, that is unlikely to happen in the current political atmosphere.

Popular opinion continues to be divided on whether Mr Thaksin, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, was a benefit or a bane to Thailand's 75-year-old search for democracy, which has been derailed by numerous military coups.

The tension between the pro-Thaksin and anti-Thaksin camps is likely to intensify over coming months as Thailand gears up for a referendum on Aug 19 to decide the fate of the country's 18th constitution. A general election is expected to be held in either November or December, but that could depend on the constitutional referendum.