Thais mark 40th anniversary of Oct 14 students uprising

BANGKOK, October 13 (TNA) - A number of Thai politicians and relatives of those killed and wounded during the October 14, 1973 students uprising gathered at the historic Democracy Monument in central Bangkok on Sunday to mark the 40th anniversary the uprising, which overthrew the military dictatorship government. The participants offered alms to 40 Buddhist monks, laid wreaths at the base of the monument which was a major scene of the bloody fighting between university students and government armed forces and delivered speeches hailing the heroic people. They plan to march to nearby Thammasat University later Sunday afternoon, where several other activities, including a speech entitled ‘Past, Present and Future of Thailand’s Democracy’ by Education Minister Ja-tu-ron Chai-sang, will be held to mark the 1973 incident. Several people died and wounded in the October 14, 1972 students uprising, which overthrew the then military government under Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and his clan. Meanwhile, an opinion survey conducted on 1,408 people by Suan Dusit Poll found that 82.72 per cent of the respondents knew and learned about the October 14 students uprising. They regarded the uprising as a significant event of the Thai democracy. According to the survey, 51.82 per cent of the respondents were interested in the event because it was regularly mentioned whenever there were political movements in the country. (TNA)