"Apr 4, 2010 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A monk blesses Red Shirts with holy water in Bangkok, Sunday, Apr. 4. Thousands of members of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as the ""Red Shirts"" and their supporters moved their anti government protests into central Bangkok Apr. 4 when they occupied Ratchaprasong intersection, the site of Bangkok's fanciest shopping malls and several 5 star hotels. The Red Shirts are demanding the resignation of current Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his government. The protest is a continuation of protests the Red Shirts have been holding across Thailand. They support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a coup in 2006 and went into exile rather than go to prison after being convicted on corruption charges. Thaksin is still enormously popular in rural Thailand. This move, away from their traditional protest site in the old part of Bangkok, has gridlocked the center of the city and closed hundreds of stores and restaurants and several religious shrines. There has not been any violence, but the government had demanded that the Red Shirts return to the old part of the city.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ"
{}