BANGKOK — Citing “confusion and inconvenience” caused by the lack of responsiveness of their sponsors, hundreds of protesters at Sanam Luang have begun a sub-protest against the organizations that they are supposed to be protesting for. A breakaway group of the Council for the Poor which calls itself the Council for Clarity and (small) Change, or CCC, is now demanding clearer more comprehensible instructions and payment in smaller currency denominations.
Spokesman Somdek Ganeeta, a farmer from Buri Ram and a longtime professional antigovernmental protester, made a brief statement to the press complaining that “First they asked us to protest against the CNS. Then we were told to protest against the new constitution. Then it was to support Thaksin’s innocence. Then we were supposed to call for boycotting the elections. And then they wanted us to march to Prem’s house – in the rain, I might add.” Somdek went on to criticize the payment system of a ฿500 bill for every two days, saying “The food vendors won’t accept such large bills. If no one has small change then we can’t get what we need.” The CCC is asking for payment in B฿00 bills or smaller, plus a pre-printed weekly schedule of topics to be protested. A spokesman for PTV, whom the CCC named as its sponsor, denied any knowledge of the subject, stating in a press brief that “The continued protests at Sanam Luang are spontaneous and represent the will of the Thai people.”
