Xinhua Web Editor: Gong
Thai "yellow-shirts" or People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) Thursday insisted on visiting Kantharalak district in the border Si Sa Ket province on Friday to give moral support to troops and local villagers affected by the Thai-Cambodian border skirmishes.
PAD key figure Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang said that the group will also hand over a-million-baht donation raised over the past two days for the affected villagers.
A PAD relief caravan of four trucks would set out for Si Sa Ket province's Kantharalak district on Friday morning.
As for the reports that local villagers along the border areas are against their visiting plan, Maj Gen Chamlong said it was just a political ploy cooked up by the government.
A group of about 50 Kantharalak villagers on Wednesday gathered to protest the planned visit of the PAD, reasoning that it might trigger resentment on the Cambodian side, and local villagers would suffer from another clashes brought on by the visit.
Since the border clash between Thailand and Cambodia erupted on Feb. 4, over 16,000 villagers in Si Sa Ket province have been evacuated to some 40 holding centers set up across the province. Some evacuees even fled to other provinces nearby.
PAD has tough stand on handling of Thai-Cambodian border issue, demanding the government to revoke 2000 memorandum of understanding on border demarcation, to force Cambodian soldiers and people out of disputed areas and to withdraw the country's membership from the World Heritage Committee. Some people have alleged the group for aggravating the already strained relationship between Thailand and Cambodia.
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