The placid northern city of Thailand heated up on Saturday night as hundreds of red- shirted people, on some 150 various vehicles, arrived at the Three King statue square.

Thai anti-government "red shirt" members from Bangkok are greeted by local supporters in Chiengmai, Thailand, Sept. 18, 2010. Thousands of "red shirt" members from Bangkok arrived in Chiengmai Saturday night, in preparation for the next day's rally marking the 4th anniversary of the September 19, 2006 coup and demanding for the release of all political prisoners held since the coup. [Zhu Li/Xinhua]

"We come to hold a peaceful rally to promote the democracy. Our brothers and sisters mustn't die in vain (in the last demonstration), " said Pruksunan, 48, the first red-shirt who arrived the square at about 9:00 p.m.

Receiving the cheers and flowers of the local fellow red-shirts, the businessman said they drove about 13 hours from Bangkok to get here for an procession and rally on Sunday, to the fourth anniversary for the 2006 military coup that ousted the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"We are here to make certain people not be able to have a sound sleep," He said, apparently referring to some government executives.

Nearly 1,000 red-shirts supporters participated the welcoming ceremony. All the cheerful crowd, all the familiar but kind of over-loud red-shirt songs through the amplifiers, reminds people of the rally in Bangkok from March 14 to May 19, till a military dispersion end it.