On September 19, about tens of thousands of protesters from Thailand’s resurgent Red Shirt movement (popular name for the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship), took to the streets of Bangkok to defy the regime.
Klaus Crimson, whose photographs of this historic rally can be seen at www.links.org.au, told Green Left Weekly: “It was truly an amazing experience. By 9am it was pretty clear to me that it might grow into something big.
“Around noon it was quite clear that there would be more than 10,000 joining and the intersection would be blocked completely. The mood was truly jubilant and absolutely peaceful throughout the day. You could always find groups of people singing and dancing.
“No one down here was paid. Everyone came of their own free will without any strong leader calling them to get here. Many Reds now go with the slogan: ‘Everyone is his own leader’.
“The arguments of the elite that these are not real protests because the Red Shirts are nothing but a paid mob helping [deposed prime minister] Thaksin Shinawatra is now completely proven to be wrong.
“The only thought that worries me is that now the elites will realise again that they will have no chance in any future free elections. There may even be a coup by hardliners around the new military chief.
“Only one thing is for sure, the Red Shirts will fight on!”