Shinawatra parties hold rally to show strength as Thai Raksa Chart awaits court ruling on dissolution
- Thai Raksa Chart could be dissolved by the Constitutional Court after its bid to run a princess as candidate for prime minister unravelled
Public gatherings are set to be held across the country Saturday, including in the Chiang Mai hometown of billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin, who lives in self-exile to avoid jail in Thailand, is adored by rice farmers and large sections of urban working-class voters for his pro-poor policies and steering of the economy.
But he is despised by the royalist elite, whose allies have failed to beat him at the polls since 2001 and instead have relied on coups and court rulings to topple Shinawatra-backed governments.
Thousands of people massed in Bangkok’s historic centre late Friday for a defiant campaign by Thai Raksa Chart, one of several parties linked to the Shinawatra clan.
Supporters say the court has the future of Thai democracy in its hands – with the junta determined to return as a civilian government.