Red shirts to commemorate Bangkok's 2010 crackdown
Thousands of protesters are to mark the secondanniversary Saturday of a crackdown on anti-government demonstrationsin central Bangkok, which left up to 102 people dead.
"You will see about 100,000 people coming to Ratchaprasong Road inmemory of those who died," Thida Tavornseth - chairwoman of theUnited Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known asthe red shirts - said Thursday.
"We want to state that the red shirts still exist, and we stillwant the truth to come out and justice for the dead," she said.
On May 19, 2010, government troops moved in on thousands offollowers of the UDD at their base at Ratchaprasong Road, promptingtheir leaders to surrender and leading to the arrests of hundreds ofred shirts, so named for the colour of their protest garb.
The numbers of those killed in street battles from April 10 to May19, 2010, related to the protests vary from 92 to 102. About 2,000were injured in clashes between the authorities and red shirts in theworst political violence witnessed in Thailand in decades.
"Despite well-documented atrocities that took place in the fullview of cameras and witnesses, no Thai soldier or official has beenheld accountable," Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch,said this week.
