Fears of clashes loom

Two gripping political dramas reach their climaxes today - the lodging of a petition to His Majesty the King seeking clemency for former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and the reading of the Supreme Court's verdict in the rubber-sapling case against Bhum Jai Thai Party core leader Newin Chidchob.

The red-shirted supporters of Thaksin will march to the Grand Palace, where at Wiset Chaisri Gate they will hand the appeal to a representative from the Office of His Majesty's Private Secretary.

At the same time, the blue-shirted devotees of Newin will turn up at the Supreme Court's Political Division for Political Office Holders, which is located near Sanam Luang.

Since the two activities will take place very close by, authorities are afraid there could be clashes between the red shirts and blue shirts if they do not get the political results they want.

The red shirts will converge at Sanam Luang in the morning and Thaksin will phone in to their rally at about 10am.

The verdict in the rubber case against 44 defendants, including Newin, will be read out at 2pm.

Suriyasai Katasila, coordinator for the People's Alliance for Democracy, warned of a possible political twist if a third party took the opportunity to create a scene for its own benefit.

He questioned the impassive stance by military leaders, saying they will be the key factor wielding influence over the situation.

"It is very strange that they have kept very quiet, giving no comment,'' he said. Thaksin left a message on Facebook and Twitter that he was composing a speech to address to the gathering of his supporters.

He said it was what had been on his mind, that he wanted to speak out long ago, but he had not found a more suitable opportunity than today to do so.

Jatuporn Promphan, a core leader of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship, said Thaksin would call in twice - before the filing of the petition and afterwards. Veera Musikapong would lead the representatives to present the petition, then the gathering would be disbanded before 2pm.

He said he had learned that people were hired for Bt1,000 to provoke the red shirts. He warned the blue-shirt leaders that the red shirts were prepared for such a scenario and were determined to bring the plotters of turmoil to justice.

He said the red shirts would not move to the courthouse and he was told that there had been a plan to make the court postpone the verdict for one month by having some defendants not show up.

Two large tents were put up at Sanam Luang as a makeshift stage, equipped with loudspeakers and tables for more signatures from Thaksin's supporters. The red shirts will start arriving at 1 in the morning.

The petitioning procession will be headed by bearers of Thai flags and Dhammachak flags, representing religion, followed by a group of monks, holders of the petition and the general public. It will move from Sanam Luang to Wiset Chaisri Gate of the Grand Palace to submit the petition to representatives.

A Royal Household Bureau source said the 15 red-shirt representatives would not be allowed to enter the palace as requested by their leaders to prevent possible disturbances and to keep peace and order within the palace.

Traffic will be blocked off at Na Phralan and Na Phrathat roads to prevent any confrontation between the red and blue shirts.

Panithan Wattanayakorn, PM's deputy secretary-general and acting government spokesman, downplayed fears of scuffles between the two rival political groups, saying he believes the red shirts only intended to file the petition and resort to peaceful means.