A red-shirts leader said Monday that they will keep their plan unchanged and hold a rally in Bangkok on the Constitution Day on Thursday, after the government called on the anti-government group to postpone it.
The Nation online quoted Natthawut Saikua as saying that the rally to be held at the Victory Monument in downtown Bangkok will also be a gathering of the red-shirts to wish His Majesty the King the best, who just celebrated his 82 birthday on Saturday.
Natthawut was responding to calls from the government and other sides for the red-shirts to cancel or postpone Thursday's rally when people all over the country are celebrating the King's birthday.
The government has decided to extend the King's birthday celebrations to Wednesday, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said earlier Monday.
And, the minister said after attending a meeting with the committee responsible for organising the celebration events, if the red-shirts movement decides to postpone its planned rally on the next day, the celebrations could be further extended to Dec 13.
The red-shirts leaders announced last Wednesday that they will hold a peaceful rally in Bangkok to mark the Constitution Day of Thailand.