BANGKOK Thailands Queen Sirikit attended the funeral Monday of a demonstrator killed in recent clashes between police and anti-government protesters, in a rare royal appearance at such an event.
An anti-government group called off another rally planned for Monday, ensuring thousands of their supporters attended the cremation of the 28-year-old woman at a temple on the outskirts of Bangkok.
The woman and a guard for the protesters died and more than 400 people were injured during the confrontation last Tuesday, the worst street violence in Bangkok for 16 years.
Violence flared when Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters descended on parliament to try to stop lawmakers from meeting, prompting police to fire tear gas on the massing crowd.
Queen Sirikit -- wife of Thailands deeply-revered King Bhumibol Adulaydej -- has already offered hundreds of thousands of baht for medical expenses of those injured in the clashes.
At the temple, thousands of PAD supporters waved blue flags with the queens emblem and shouted `Long live the queen`, as Queen Sirikit arrived, an AFP correspondent reported.
Analyst David Streckfuss, a historian at the University of Wisconsin, said the queens appearance at the funeral was unusual. `Although there have been lots of social activists killed in the last decade, to my knowledge none of their funeral ceremonies received any special attention from members of the royal family,` said Streckfuss, who lives in Thailand.
