Thai "red shirts" consider symbolic airport rally

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai "red shirt" demonstrators are planning a symbolic rally next week near Bangkok's main airport, but insisted on Wednesday there would be no repeat of a crippling blockade a year ago by a rival protest movement.

The anti-government group said it was considering a brief demonstration on the road leading to Suvarnabhumi Airport to highlight the government's failure to prosecute "yellow shirt" protestors who shut down two airports in December 2008.

The eight-day blockade by the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which helped undermine two governments backed by exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, disrupted trade and left at least 230,000 tourists stranded.

The PAD's occupation of the $4 billion (2.45 billion pound) Suvarnabhumi airport led to downgrades of Thailand's sovereign credit rating and dealt a big blow to the country's vital tourism industry, which returned to positive growth in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Most significant, the "red shirts" say, is the failure to prosecute those behind the siege.

The blockade ended only after a court dissolved the pro-Thaksin People's Power Party government, ushering in the current administration, led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrats.

"If we go to the airport, it will be a symbolic rally. We won't bring many people," said Arisman Pongruangrong, a folk singer and key activist with the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), the "red shirts" formal name.

"We won't close the airport or shut down traffic," he added during a short rally by dozens of protesters at the prime minister's office on Wednesday.

MARKET IMPACT

Thailand's stock market has reflected concerns about the impact of the UDD's anti-government push, with the benchmark index falling more than 1 percent on Tuesday, against regional trends, on news of the mooted airport rally.

The UDD, which is backed by the twice-elected Thaksin, accuses the government and his opponents -- the PAD, royal advisors, business elites and the military -- of using undemocratic means to topple elected pro-Thaksin governments.

The UDD has staged small protests recently at symbolic locations like the offices of the Election Commission (EC) and the Privy Council, a body of royal advisers.

The group plans to hold a mass rally in eastern Chantaburi province this weekend at a golf course they claim was built illegally on forest reserve land and may have links to Privy Council Chairman Prem Tinsulanonda, the king's closest aide.

It believes Prem, an 89-year-old former premier and army chief, masterminded the coup that removed Thaksin in 2006. It also says the EC is dragging its heels in investigating Abhisit's Democrats over alleged irregularities in campaign donations.

The UDD said it was also considering holding rallies outside the homes of every Privy Council member over the next month.

Sukhum Nuansakul, a political scientist at Bangkok's Ramkhamhaeng University, said that although small, the UDD's recent rallies were significant.

"Symbolically, they can have an impact. It's part of gearing up for a bigger movement but its unlikely to shake up anything," he said. "They can't afford for it to get out of control, they'd lose public support and any high ground they may have."

The UDD plans to step up pressure on the government by holding a mass rally lasting at least one week on the roads near the seat of government, starting in mid-February, calling for fresh elections.

It is likely to take place around the same time as a parliamentary no-confidence motion against the government by the pro-Thaksin opposition Puea Thai party.

(Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Pracha Hariraksapitak; Editing by Martin Petty and Alex Richardson)