Anti-government protesters start marching, mass rally

BANGKOK, March 29 (TNA) - Demonstrators of the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) began marching from Lumpini public park, now their main rally site, in central Bangkok, on Saturday morning and were heading to the Royal Plaza, their destination, aimed at reiterating their demand for a national reform before the new general election. The PDRC's marching for a mass gathering at the Royal Plaza, near the Parliament, came just one day ahead of Thailand’s March 30 election for 77 senators, each representing one province in the Kingdom. Amid the warm weather in the summer, the PDRC demonstrators divided themselves into six processions before moving from in front of the Rama VI Monument in front of the Lumpini public park. The first procession was made up of medical volunteers, patriots of Kasetsart University, blind people and PDRC supporters from the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The second procession was led by a nine-head lion and accompanied by business persons and employees working on Bangkok’s Silom Road, PDRC supporters from the central and eastern regions, farmers and students of Chulalongkorn University's Demonstration School. Singers, comedian performers, a group of Thammasat University lecturers and students and Thai Muslims were in the third procession who left in front of the park near Wireless intersection. The fourth procession was made up of labourers, farmers from Nakhon Ratchasima, Thais of Indian origin and PDRC supporters from the Thai North who set off in front of Lumpini police station. Students from several prestigious schools in the capital, along with professional singers and entertainers marched from behind the Lumpini public park near the Wireless and Sarasin Intersections. The sixth procession, comprising students from three universities, colleges and PDRC supporters from the lower northern Phichit Province, left from Lumpini public park’s Gate 7 and marched along Bangkok streets to join with other PDRC demonstrators at the Royal Plaza or the Equestrian Statue of King Rama V, also located near the Government House. The PDRC's major marching and gathering affected traffic in Bangkok, especially along those routes, through which PDRC protesters were marching, but government offices and most private firms are closed for weekend holidays. Updated reports said that another group of protesters under the Student and People Network for Thailand's Reform (SPNTR), aligned with the PDRC, successfully entered the Government House on Saturday morning, after retreating from in front of the government seat and staging a street rally in its vicinity since early this year. (TNA)