REDS are BLOCKING BANGKOK SATURDAY
 

BANGKOK:

-- Traffic policemen at all stations in Bangkok have been instructed
to put more effort into controlling heavy congestion anticipated on
Saturday when antigovernment protestors start their campaign to 'meet
and greet' capital residents and Bangkokbased red shirts.

Late yesterday redshirt leaders said they were also considering
disruption to underground train services and the BTS.

Traffic areas of most concern are Pratunam and the Rama I
intersection, covering Siam Centre and Siam Paragon malls, as
congestion is common in these areas, said Pol MajGeneral Phanu
Kerdlarpphol, who oversees traffic management in Bangkok.

The officer said he hoped protest leaders would coordinate with police
on areas red shirts planned to converge on or march in, but they have
not been heard from so far.

He said rallies in small groups, of the kind expected on Saturday,
were easier to handle than a largescale march of the type red shirts
conducted in their protests on March 14.

Police would negotiate with protest leaders to free up some areas they
have occupied on Rajdamnoen Avenue and the Royal Plaza to make way for
the annual Red Cross fair events from March 30 to May 7.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD)'s
Saturday campaign for redshirt demonstrators to "meet and greet"
Bangkok people is a plan in disguise to disrupt traffic and blockade
city streets and force negotiations with the government, according to
a highlyplaced DAAD source.

"The disruption is needed because middleclass people like Bangkok
residents are naturally reluctant to express themselves, unless their
lives are affected," the source explained.

Whether mass transport, like underground trains and the BTS service
should also be disrupted, is being discussed among DAAD leaders.

"If our campaign can be heightened to that level, the government must
do something to respond," the source added.

In the campaign on Saturday, redshirt vehicles will spread through
city streets joined by more mobilised from the provinces. They will
converge at the rally point at the main protest site at Phan Fa Lilas
Bridge, before travelling enmasse throughout Bangkok.