BANGKOK - TENS of thousands of 'red shirts' marched to a major army base yesterday, but the show of strength failed to pressure the Thai government into holding early elections.

'The demand...for House dissolution before noon...cannot be met,' Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told a press conference at his temporary base in the army regiment's headquarters.

'But it does not mean that I or the coalition parties will not listen to their voices,' added Mr Abhisit, who was flanked by his coalition partners.

'Any political decision-making must be based on ultimate national interest and accommodating all opinions from every group in society.'

He then left the base in a helicopter, which flew over the convoy of red shirts as it marched from Rajadamnoen Avenue in the heart of historic Bangkok to the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Regiment - a distance of well over 10km.

Yesterday's demonstration took place without the much-feared violence that had marred previous mass rallies organised by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which largely supports ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

- http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/SE+Asia/Story/STIStory_502579.html

My opinion:

When Thaksin was the prime minister, he gave the poor people loans with low interest and gave them many interests but did not give any interest to the middle income family. This made the middle income people angry which made the government re-elect the prime minister which is the current Prime Minister Abishit. The government then confiscated a huge sum of money from Thaksin as they believe that the money is corrupted. The benefits that Thaksin gave were also cancelled, this then made the poor people angry and created what is known as the Red Shirt Army. Their main purpose is to make the government have a fresh and fair democratic election, the prime minister must be voted by the people of Thailand. To make the government do this, they disrupt the government by collecting blood from everybody and pouring them at the gate of the Government building, throwing man-made granites at the gate of the government building, military base and police station. The government then agrees to negotiate with the red shirt organizer but till today the talk has not been quite successful yet.