Associated Press | By UAMDAO NOIKORN | October 17, 2003
A ritual curse has been placed on him. His spirit will be potted and thrown into a river. Some want him tried for murder and terrorism.
U.S. President George W. Bush, who arrives Saturday, is emerging as the No. 1 target of activists at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the war on terror and globalization the big issues.
"George Bush must know that we Thais despise his capitalist ideals and determination to make America rich at the expense of others' lives," said Prayong Doklamyai of the Northern Farmers' Network in Chiang Mai, a city 580 kilometers (360 miles) north of the Thai capital. "May he burn in hell."
More than 300 ethnic hilltribe and Thai farmers gathered Friday in front of the U.S. consulate in Chiang Mai for a traditional cursing ceremony and to demand that the United States and other countries stop ruining their livelihoods by free trade policies.
A shaman was to capture the spirits of the "devil of capitalism," Bush, along with those of APEC's 20 other leaders, and encase them in a pot to be sunk in the Ping River. The ritual, carried out by the Lisu hilltribe group, will begin with a curse on those exploiting the poor and end with the sacrifice of a chicken.
Prayong said the shape and color of the chicken bones will reveal whether their cause will prove successful or not.
Bush will also be the focus of the largest demonstration likely to be held during the conference period. About 1,000 Thai activists plan to rally at a university Sunday and stage parodies showing the United States as an arrogant power refusing to abide by international norms.
Giles Ungpakorn, a political science professor who will spearhead the protest, says the demonstrators oppose the U.S. invasion of Iraq and a recent deployment of Thai peacekeeping troops to that country. They also demand the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra seek the people's consent before getting into any military or trade agreements with Washington.
Bush is expected to ask the Thais for more help in the war on terror and thank them for capturing Asia's top terrorist suspect earlier this year. Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, was allegedly Osama bin Laden's key operative in Southeast Asia.
On Friday, dozens of artists and students gathered at national police headquarters, demanding that Bush be taken to court for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people, but the police refused to accept any documents from the protesters. A cartoon portrayed the U.S. president as a wolf garbed in a tuxedo and top hat.
The demonstrators initially planned to take legal action against Bush on charges of being a war criminal, said Pichit Chaimongkol, federation secretary of the Student Federation of Thailand, but changed their minds after a Supreme Court official warned they could face up to seven years in jail.
The Supreme Court's secretary-general, Jaran Pakdeethanakul, said Bush was protected against such legal action by international conventions and, as guest of the Thai king, by Thai law.
A group of Christians, Buddhists and Muslims prepared to pray for Bush at a Bangkok park, saying he needed to be enlightened about the sufferings of war.
"We don't want the United States to invade or influence any country, because it will cause violence in that society," said Yongyut Buranacharoenkij of the Thai Interreligious Network for Peace which will hold the Friday evening service at Lumpini Park.
Besides his three-day visit to Thailand, Bush is also making stops in Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia during his Asian-Pacific swing.Associated Press:
