Take the main stage. It was placed on the opposite side of the park to that where his nemesis Sondhi Limthongkul and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had staged their own

anti-Thaksin really earlier this week. On the other hand, the

pro-Thaksin camp had been able to mobilise about twice as many people.

Then consider the colours. Thaksin's stage was painted blue, while his antagonists' was predominantly yellow. All of Thaksin's crew, speakers as well as Cabinet members and MPs, wore white shirts and black trousers or skirts.

Tied to each end of the stage was an orange-and-green balloon, probably also according to fengshui principles.

His opponents had used yellow pieces of cotton with the words "Restoration of the nation" printed on them, while members of Thaksin's crowd sported larger pieces of paper or stickers with "Love Thaksin, vote Thai Rak Thai" emblazoned on them.

Both sides had student representatives on stage and an undertone of religiosity.

Where political veteran Chamlong Srimuang brought monks from the Santi Asok Buddhist sect to the anti-Thaksin rally, last night's event saw followers of the Dhammakaya religious centre passing out free food and water to participants.

Thaksin's supporters arrived in a uniform manner, and just about all of them had a paper national flag in their hands. Some were carrying placards in praise of the embattled prime minister; most were cheering and shouting agreement to just about anything he said, including self-criticism.

A person with a microphone in his hand was in charge of ensuring that people behaved in an orderly fashion. They wore "I love Thaksin" headbands. Individually, each subgroup resembled a group of mainland Chinese tourists milling through the Bangkok International Airport.

In accordance with their uniforms, participants gave uniform answers. "We've come here because we love Thaksin," said many of those asked by The Nation.

An elderly man slipped up and pointed to his village chief, indicating the man responsible for making him come here. He then thought better of it and declared suddenly: "No, no one brought us here or paid us to come here. We all came on our own at our own expense."

One man, reeking of alcohol, complained that he had only been paid Bt200, although his meal and transportation had been free.

About half of the participants at yesterday's event appeared to have come from the provinces, from all four corners of the country. Out-of-town busses and vans cluttered the streets of Bangkok and choked entry points to the capital.

Unlike the anti-Thaksin coalition whose slogan is "Thaksin get out!", yesterday's participants roared their support: "Thaksin, fight, fight!"

The prime minister himself shouted the line shortly after taking the stage.

Where Sondhi relied on his TV crew, Thaksin hired a professional team from VS Service Film and Studio to oversee the broadcast of yesterday's event.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation