Thousands of red-shirted people gathered Sunday near a temple in Bangkok to celebrate the 60th birthday of the ousted former Premier Thaksin shinawatra. The celebration in the private field near the U-Thai temple began at 11 a.m local time and won't finish until midnight, said Wanlop Chaichalermmongkon, the leader of a local branch of the pro- Thaksin group United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). Thousands of red-clad Thaksin supporters clapped and cheered as Chatupon Prompan, one of UDD core leaders, made speech, retrospecting the self-exiled ex- premier's political career. The difference of this event from the ones the red-shirts held in the past is that, in the past the focus was to condemn the government, and this time, to pay tribute to Thaksin, said an elderly red-shirted lady, who only gave her name as Rani. According to Wanlop, the branch leader, Thaksin will make a video link-in from Dubai at around 9:00 p.m. to his supporters here. He also showed the reporter a birthday cake of 150 pound. 'We collected a total donation of 60,000 baht (1,766 USD) from the people for baking the cake,' he said, adding the whole event got a donation of 500,000 baht (14,717 USD). 'We would give best wishes to him (Thaksin), and everyone believes he will come back soon,' the 28-year-old leader said. The celebration came as the Thaksin supporters across the country, particularly in the North and Northeast, continued to visit local temples to make merit for the fugitive politician. People also signed their names in support of petition for a royal pardon for the deposed premier. The campaign of collecting signature was launched by the anti- government group on July 2, aiming to get 1 million signatures in one month by August 1, to seek a Royal clemency on the self- exiled former prime minister. Thaksin was ousted by a bloodless military coup in September 2006 before he went exile abroad. He still has supporters in Thailand, though last October he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment over a corrupt land deal. 