In Bangkok 

THE pro-democracy ''red shirt'' movement today began delivering letters to Ambassadors of ASEAN members countries, questioning the legitimacy of the Democrat Party-led government to chair the upcoming ASEAN summit scheduled in Hua Hin from February 27th to March 1st. 

They started with the Myanmar Embassy on Sathon road, about a kilometre up the avenue from the Singapore Embassy. 

They were due at the Singapore Embassy at around 10.30am. About 15 police were busy arranging steel barriers a few feet in front of the entrances to the building. Several of them were ordered to disarm by a senior officer, and deposited their handguns in a police pickup truck parked in front of the Embassy. 

At about 10.45am the placards and a Thai flag could be seen in the distance as the crowd of about 100 approached. As they neared the Embassy one red-shirted protestor told me: ''Our foreign minister (Kasit Piromya) is a terrorist!''

On the march again.
ST Photo: Nirmal Ghosh

The movement's leaders Jakrapob Penkair, Veera Musigapong, Jatuporn Phromphan, and former government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar arrived, dressed in business suits. A gaggle of journalists and photographers gathered around them, and Jakrapob told me ''Our message to ASEAN members is that Thai people don't want this government to represent them in the ASEAN framework.''

"We support the ASEAN framework; this is about telling them what we feel. IT is up to ASEAN to decide what to do.''

He added that any protests during the ASEAN summit would be peaceful.

''The red shirts have been painted as troublemakers. We want to make sure our ASEAN friends understand the reality'' he said. 

Freshly-minted placards carried by the crowd read ''We need free Democracy, not pseudo-democracy'' and ''Jail PAD terrorists'' - and also denounced foreign minister Kasit Piromya and the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy PAD). 

Mr Kasit has come in for specific focus because he was an active member of the PAD even as the movement stormed Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports and forced their closure on November 25 last year - plunging Thailand's economy into chaos.

The government at the time, led by then-premier Somchai Wongsawat, had denounced the tactic as ''terrorism'' but the police and the army took no action even after a state of emergence was declared at the two airports.

This morning Jakrapob, accompanied by the others, approached the gate of the Singapore Embassy and read out the letter to an Embassy official – and then handed over an original in an envelope. 

The envelope, please.
ST Photo: Nirmal Ghosh

The letter stated that the ''so-called Royal Thai Government led by Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, does not democratically represent the great people of Thailand.''

''At the outlook, his coalition resembles the one with legitimate majority and seems politically qualified, but the very conception of such government can't be remotely considered democratic. A democratically-elected government, as you are well-aware, must be led by the party with majority, which in turn reflects the will of the people.

''The Abhisit government" came into existence only because of the heavy maneuvering of undemocratic external forces, the ones that disregard the true will of the people and their rights for self-determination.

Furthermore, the appointment of Kasit Piromya as Foreign Minister is an unbelievable act of recognizing a personality Thai people view as a terrorist, as he was a constant contributor to the seizure of both international airports of Thailand quite recently.

In the eyes of most Thais, this government is politically-handicapped. They think such state of leadership should not be allowed to tamper with ASEAN's good works, especially as its Chair.

''Therefore, we would like to officially address the problem to you, the respectable ASEAN partner, that the current Thai government is not well-regarded and not generally accepted by the people of the land.''

The crowd dispersed at around 11:30am without incident. The red shirts will be going to other ASEAN member countries' embassies next week in their campaign, delivering the letter to each one.