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When a strike to have the leaders reinstated failed, the workers marched through Bangkok's commercial area demanding justice.

The workers vowed to return if their demands were not met.

The labour dispute began with a twist when union leader Jitra Kongdej wore a campaign T-shirt in support of Chotisak Onsoong - who refused to stand during the Royal Anthem last September - to participate in a television talk show on the state-run NBT channel to talk about abortion.

The campaign T-shirt which read "Not to stand is not a crime. To think differently doesn't make one a criminal" became a subject of attack by the pro-monarchist and anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

The employer subsequently seized the opportunity to have Jitra dismissed and a strike by virtually all of the 3,700 factory workers began on Wednesday and continued yesterday as employers tried to fire all 20 union leaders and mete out disciplinary punishment to other workers.

Some Chulalongkorn University students rallied behind workers yesterday as they marched downtown, naming and shaming their employers.

"They need justice," said a female Chulalongkorn University freshman who asked not to be named.

Kengkit Kittiriangrab, a doctoral student at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Political Science, was among those helping the workers. He said they had no choice but to come to Bangkok to put pressure on the employers.

"It won't affect shoppers too much if they can't shop for two hours, but the workers are affected when they don't work for a day," he said.

Some local human rights activists have become alarmed by this latest incident as a further infringement on freedom of expression as Jitra merely wore the T-shirt in support of Chotisak and didn't say anything about the matter on television.

 Wanphen Wongsombat, a union leader who was among those dismissed by the employer after leading a work stoppage on Wednesday, said the majority of the workers are united and will continue to fight for their rights.

"What is the company doing?" he asked. "What are they thinking? Why are they trying to destroy the union? We want the media to report about it."

 Very few reporters were there to cover the incident, however.