Thai 'Red Shirts' dismiss pleas to end protests

Thailand's "Red Shirt" supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra defied mounting pressure Thursday from the battered tourism industry to end protests seeking to topple the government.

The Red Shirts have vowed to stage their biggest rally on Saturday since their latest round of protests began with more than 100,000 supporters on March 14, but the army has predicted a low turnout as rural demonstrators go home.

Tourism workers plan their own peaceful rallies Friday which they expect to draw about 1,000 people seeking an end to the action by Thaksin supporters pushing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call snap polls.

The demonstrations planned for Bangkok and other top tourist destinations including Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Phuket reflect deepening concern about the impact of political turmoil on the vital sector.

"We don't want to create mob against mob, but we want the political sector to hear our voice," Charoen Wangananont, president of Thai Travel Agent Association, told AFP.

In another rally against the mass protests, faculty members of Chulalongkorn University plan to dress in pink and gather in a show of anti-violence, also on Friday.

The tourism industry has suffered billions of dollars of financial losses in the past few years because of political unrest and foreign visitor arrivals are down 20-30 percent from last year, according to sector officials.

But Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan rejected the estimated financial losses as overexaggerated and rounded on the tourism chiefs, saying they were allied to the current government.

Jatuporn reiterated that Abhisit's offer to call elections by the end of the year, one year ahead of schedule, would not be enough to bring the anti-government protesters back to the negotiating table.

The Reds have staged a series of dramatic stunts to press their demand in recent weeks, including throwing their own blood at Abhisit's offices.

They seek the return of the twice-elected populist Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon, saying that the coup that ousted him in 2006 was illegal.

Abhisit, who decamped to an army base in Bangkok's northern suburbs after the protests broke out, returned to work at the heavily-fortified Government House Thursday for the first time in more than two weeks.

Thailand's reputation as the "Land of Smiles" has suffered a heavy blow since late 2008 when the rival Yellow Shirts blockaded Bangkok's two airports for nine days, stranding hordes of frustrated travellers.

Asian tourists are particularly sensitive to security and many have cancelled trips for this month's famed Songkran water festival that usually attracts thousands of foreign visitors.

While the latest Red Shirts demonstrations have been peaceful, a series of small explosions have hit politically significant sites and army buildings, injuring more than a dozen people.

The army predicted that fewer people would attend the planned rally by Red Shirts this weekend compared with the 80,000 who turned out on Saturday March 27.

"The government is not worried about the number of protesters," said army spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd.

Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for graft, sought to mobilise his supporters for Saturday's rally.

"To fight for future generations requires a lot of time and patience. Don't be discouraged on April 3. We will keep on fighting," he said in a text message sent via mobile telephone.

The former policeman, who supports his movement with near-daily speeches by videolink, rejected rumours that he had cancer and said he had returned to his main base of Dubai after visiting Sweden and Moscow.