New Thai Red Shirts leader warns of battle ahead

A firebrand hardliner who was a core leader of Thailand's Red Shirts in the country's massive 2010 protests has been chosen to head the pro-government movement, saying today that a "big fight" lay ahead.
Former MP Jatuporn Prompan, facing terrorism charges in an ongoing trial related to the 2010 uprising, told AFP that any new Red Shirt tactics would be "peaceful".
"We have to discuss our strategy," Jatuporn told AFP today. "The next battle will be big."
He ruled out violence, saying that any new strategy would involve "no weapons".
Jatuporn took the helm as chairman from previous Red Shirt leader Tida Tawornseth at a gathering of 10,000 supporters in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, yesterday.

Bangkok has been rocked by months of mass protests calling for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step aside in favour of an unelected "people's council" to tackle what opponents see as a culture of money-driven politics.

The backdrop is a longstanding struggle between a royalist establishment, backed by the judiciary and the military, and Yingluck's billionaire family which has strong support in the northern half of Thailand.
Protests accuse Yingluck's elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra -- a tycoon-turned-premier who was ousted from office by royalist generals in 2006 -- of running the government from overseas, where he lives to avoid a jail term for corruption.

Yingluck currently faces charges of negligence from Thailand's anti-corruption body which could lead to her being removed from office.