'White Masks' Group Calls For An End To Weekly Anti-Govt Rally

 (3 July) The Facebook group which has
been coordinating the activities of the anti-government ?White Masks? group suddenly suggested that
the weekly rally in central Bangkok should be emporarily suspended.

V For Thailand,
which has been playing crucial role in the latest wave of protests against the government of PM
Yingluck Shinawatra, wrote that the suspension to the rally in Bangkok is intended to offer chance
for the numerous groups joining their protests to consider whether your way is what V people
want.

V For Thailand will hereby suspend its activities in Bangkok. V will return in the
next season when every group and every individual is ready to operate under the way of V = We =
People that do not solely belong to anyone, part of the statement reads.

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However, the
statement made clear that the weekly White Masks rallies in other provinces would go on.

The
statement might come as a puzzle for many of it supporters, who have adopted the Guy Fawkes Masks as
their anti-government symbol after viral campaigns by the group. The ?White Masks? rallies in
Bangkok, staged every Sunday afternoon at the plaza of Central World shopping mall, have been
gaining considerable media attention and numbers of protesters have been visibly
increasing.

Nevertheless, it is understood that the group, which preached of decentralized,
leaderless movements, has been increasingly infiltrated by veteran members of the Yellowshirts in
their recent rallies. The Yellowshirts are self-sworn enemies of Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra,
brother of Ms. Yingluck, whom they view as corrupt, anti-monarchy dictator.

The Yellowshirts?
hands in the White Masks protests can be easily distinguished in the latest anti-government rally in
central Bangkok on last Sunday (30 June). Trucks loaded with loudspeakers led the protests along
Rama IV Road on their march to Bangkok Art&Cultural Center, while speakers on the trucks gave
directions and speeches to the protesters.

Such a level of high
organization is not previously seen in White Masks protests, and reminds many observers of the
conventional protests held by the Yellowshirts and their nemesis the Redshirts. Indeed, some
speakers on the trucks on 30 June are familiar faces from the ranks of the Yellowshirts.

Many
White Masks sympathizers have complained of the extremely rude and inflammatory speeches made by
those Yellowshirts hijackers.

In one case, an individual who once served as guard for
Yellowshirts rallies showed up in a rally by the White Masks in Chiang Mai province and encouraged
the group to confront the Redshirts who were staging counter-protest nearby. When fistfights
erupted, though, the man was nowhere to be seen.

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On V For Thailand Facebook page, reactions
to the group′s call for rally suspension were mixed. While some applauded the group′s decision to
stop the activities before they are further hijacked, some voice their opposition.

What′s
up with this ?leader? saying what V can or cannot do? a user commented, I thought V movement is
leaderless?