Anti-thaksin campaign angers Pheu Thai
An anti-Thaksin Facebook campaign which uses the image of a Guy Fawkes mask and has gone viral overnight has infuriated the Pheu Thai Party.
The campaign is to counter what has been branded the ‘‘Thaksin regime’’.
Many Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to the visage of Guy Fawkes and posted a message that reads: ‘‘The people’s army has risen and it will root out the Thaksin regime from the country’’.
They have also posted the message on the Facebook page of the Pheu Thai Party and those associated with the ruling party. One of the targets is the Facebook page of Panthongtae Shinawatra, son of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit yesterday said the online campaign is ‘‘unethical’’ and ‘‘psychologically disturbed’’.
He threatened to take legal action against Facebook users who post the messages, and said he would meet the party’s legal team today to discuss if such acts were in violation of the computer crime law.
He called on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry to investigate.
However, ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap said the ministry could not take any action if the campaigners do not break the law.
Mr Prompong believes the movement is politically motivated and is likely to be linked to the people who recently hacked and defaced the website of the Office of the Prime Minister.
‘‘This kind of political comment is an act of mentally disturbed people,’’ he said.
Asked about a message posted on the party’s Facebook page by a user with the name ‘‘Thaksin Shinawatra’’ who was angered by the campaign, Mr Prompong said the person was not Thaksin. The message has been deleted. Appointed senator Khamnoon Sitthisamarn yesterday described the campaign as a powerful innovation against the Thaksin regime. ‘‘It is powerful. It doesn’t target an individual but the system. It intends to bring down a parliamentary dictatorship which is disguised as democracy,’’ said Mr Khamnoon on his Facebook page.
The visage of Guy Fawkes has become popular among protesters after the 2005 Hollywood film V for Vendetta showed thousands marching on parliament wearing them. It is used by protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement and a key element in the Arab Spring.
Guy Fawkes was an early-17th century British figure who was executed following a foiled plot to assassinate King James I.
Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the mask campaign is a reaction to the government’s failure to stop red shirts harassing its critics.
He warned the campaign will escalate if the government fails to ensure unbiased law enforcement.