One of the noticeable things from looking at video and still images of the red shirt protests as well as talking to journalists who have accompanied the red shirts on their marches, is the number of people lining the streets to cheer on the red shirts. This is something which has been noticeable compared to previous protests. Pravit in The Nation:

Many people along both sides of the streets, mostly proletarians, cheered and waved at the passing red shirts. Some handed out bottles of water, while others danced or waved red handkerchiefs.

“Today is the day we will show that the old elite are no longer in charge,” a voice blared from a megaphone of one pickup.

“Abhisit, get out!” shouted others as some passers-by also joined the chant.

BP: Nirmal mentioned that in his blog post yesterday. Prachatai has a number of photos of the red shirt sympathizers here.

Now, of course, protest numbers do not always signify the full level of support, but BP’s point is that expressions of support by the red shirt sympathizers has been limited in the past compared to the recent protests.

btw, this also from Pravit is a classic:

Not all were receptive. Earlier, as I exited the Skytrain, a mother was telling her 10-year-old daughter to learn something from the occasion.

“The power of money,” she said from the elevated pedestrian bridge, referring to the strongly held belief that the rural red shirts were all being paid to protest in Bangkok by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, now a fugitive living abroad.

“And how can they say they’re not causing traffic jams?”

The vehicular procession crawled along at walking pace.

BP: The driver of the taxi that BP took last night went to the protest on Sunday to listen to Thaksin. He said he was lucky to get a fare to the protests around the time of the phone-in so stuck around to listen. He said many people were coming and going regularly as they have to work.