Red-shirt pavilion burnt down in Songkhla
Play
Political rivals in Songkhla known to oppose red villages in area
The village pavilion of a new red-shirt village in Songkhla province was burnt down early yesterday, hours after its opening by red-shirt leaders and supporters in the South.
On Monday evening red-shirt leader Thida Tavornset Tojirakarn and supporters held an opening ceremony for a red-shirt village near the now-burnt-down pavilion in tambon Bangkae, in Songkhla’s Jana district.
The police speculated that the incident took place around 2am. There were no eyewitnesses and the arsonist is not yet known.
Currently, police suspect the arson attack was done by political rivals, who were not happy with constant attempts by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to set up red-shirt villages in the South.
Thida said people believed the arson attack was an attempt to oppose the setting up of the red-shirt village, following a failed effort to organise a rally to oppose the opening ceremony on Monday.
She said police and locals saw Democrat MPs Thaworn Senneam and Pol Maj-General Surin Palare lead the rally.
The UDD had tried to set up several red-shirt villages in the South, long regarded as the Democrat Party’s stronghold. The group has been to Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat and Phuket since the end of last year.
Red-shirt leaders say rallies were organised to promote democracy, oppose drugs and military coups, as well as to set up red-shirt villages in the provinces.
Last Saturday the group failed to stage a rally in Phuket, after red shirts were driven out by locals. So, the group went back to Songkhla, their first destination in the South, to open more red-shirt villages. There were now 10 such villages in the province.
Meanwhile, Songkhla Democrat MP Sirichok Sopha expressed concern about the setting up of red-shirt villages in the South, which he felt would only cause more conflicts in society.
The MP said the government used the villages for political purposes, which contradicted its policy of reconciliation.
He said the government should stop supporting the UDD. The group rallied for the government, using state funds and cooperative state systems under the pretext of fighting for democracy and opposing drugs, he said.
Sirichok also noted that state officials were involved in red-shirt activities, such as Pol Colonel Tawee Sodsong, director of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC), while others were asking officials to stop supporting the red-shirts and concentrate on their work.
He demanded the government and the prime minister provide evidence about the funds used to set up red-shirt villages, and affirm their political stance and stop the division in society.
