"We have always been against Thaksin," Giles said Friday to a group of reporters at the protest. "But we do not want political reform that takes place in a climate of a military dictatorship."
BANGKOK, Sep 22 (IPS) - As Thailand's 18th coup ended its third day, the first cracks against a military solution to a political problem have surfaced. A small group of dissidents gathered to voice their opposition to the junta outside a swanky shopping mall here on Friday evening.
'No to Thaksin, No to coup,' read a protest sign held up by the dissidents, who numbered about 20. "Don't call it reform. It's a coup," said another.
Although limited in number, the dissidents, by standing up, are punching a few holes in the glowing picture painted by the mainstream Thai media that the junta has universal support for its power grab on the night of Sep. 19 to rid Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from office.
Thanaphol Eiwsakul, no stranger to controversy here when it comes to fighting for political and civil liberties, is among the leading voices daring to challenge the coup's leaders. ''This coup is against democracy; it is against the law,'' the 33-year-old editor of 'Fah Diew Kan,' a Thai magazine known for its progressive views, said in an IPS interview hours before the gathering. ''The announcements on TV supporting the coup are asking us to support something that is illegal. Would you support an act that is against the law?''
Sombat Boongnam-among, a prominent activist for minority rights who works in the northern Chiang Rai province, is also standing up to the new political order being imposed in this country through martial law. ''They (the coup leaders) are censoring people's opinion and only one side -- their side -- is being presented,'' he told IPS. ''I am not afraid of being arrested. It is my right to express my political opinion openly.''
center>Full story: Dissidence Grows Against Coup
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