Thaksin supporters rally in Bangkok

In a speech recorded, exiled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on saturday publicly denounced the generals who ousted him in a military coup as retrograde dictators who were destroying Thailand's reputation and economy.
The speech played on giant television screens to 15,000 of his supporters at the Sanam Luang place in central Bangkok. The former prime minister said he was "ready to come back to fight for his good name." And he added : “These dictators are taking the country back several decades,"
Thaksin's speech was only the second time that his voice has been heard in his home country since the coup, and came amid heightened political tensions in the kingdom.
Thailand has been ruled by a military-installed government since a September 19 coup ousted Thaksin, alleging corruption.
Supporters calling for the junta to resign after a court it appointed dissolved Thaksin's former ruling party and banned him from politics for five years.
Then, the former prime minister denounced the government's decision to freeze his and his family's bank accounts, with more than 52 billion baht (US$1.6 billion). He explained that portions of his assets had been invested variously either within Thailand or abroad, in sectors such as real estate and the stock market, and denied that the money had been illegally siphoned off as alleged by those intent on tracking his assets.
There was a heavy presence of police as well as military personnel and their vehicles, and some roads were blocked to traffic. No violence was reported.