BANGKOK (AFP) — You can use it to cheer on a rock band, take to the mall or, why not, try to overthrow a government -- the latest must-have among Thailand's protest set is a plastic, hand-shaped clapper.
The clack-clack-clack of the multi-coloured hands has resonated throughout Bangkok during the months-long campaign by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to bring down the nation's elected government.
In fact, it's spawned a little bit of a minor industry: one vendor outside Government House -- currently occupied by the protesters -- says she sells up to 100 clappers a day.
Another vendor, boasting a more elaborate stall, claims to sell 200 a day.
The average price is 25 baht (nearly one dollar), depending on the size. Or you can opt for the flashing light version at 35 baht.
"I broke one clapper so now I have a new one. When you get very excited you wave it very hard," explained a middle-aged woman at the grounds of the prime minister's offices at Government House.
The area, seized in August, has since taken on the air of an outdoor music festival as the protesters press their campaign against government, which they say is a corrupt proxy for ousted and exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
When Thaksin, brother-in-law of the current premier Somchai Wongsawat, was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail this week for conflict of interest in a land deal, thousands of protesters celebrated by waving their clappers.
"It's the fashion," said the same woman, who did not want to give her name. "You don't have to use your hands -- it's easy and convenient.
"These people who sell them make a good profit."
Kiat Chan, proud owner of three clappers, says the protesters started using them about a week after their street demonstrations began in May.
"The rally here has gathered for more than 135 days. Think about it: if you clap that long, your hands will swell," he said.
The "mue tob" -- Thai for hand clap -- has become an unlikely symbol of the anti-government movement, and the clappers can now be seen at concerts, sports events and shopping malls across the capital.
The Venetian-style Government House is now the centre of an organised tent city that stretches across blocks of the capital's historic district.
Vendors sell T-shirts with the slogan, "Clapper's War," and pop stars sing on a central stage urging people to "clap away the country's evils."
PAD supporters also pursue members of the government with their clappers. Last month they even hounded the prime minister out of a shopping mall with a deluge of clacking.
"You can use it to say to Thai ministers, 'Get out and go to hell!'" said PAD supporter Sui, holding an outsize clapper which cost her 60 baht.
"It's very, very fun and you use it very loud."
Somchai has been resisting increasing pressure to step down since two PAD supporters were killed and nearly 500 people were injured in October 7 street clashes with police, but it is unclear how he will be able to hang on.
Thailand's powerful army chief last week hinted Somchai should resign, and sales of the clappers, which are imported from China, are continuing to boom with protesters showing no sign of letting up.
Still, perhaps inevitably, a backlash is afoot.
Not to be outdone, government supporters have now started producing plastic foot-shaped clappers, triggering concern in Bangkok's Nation newspaper of an imminent "battle of clappers."
There is genuine reason for concern: feet are considered impolite in Thai culture, and people are fearful of anything that would spark fresh violence.
Even though there is more money to be made, at least one vendor is washing her hands of the clapper craze.
"I stopped selling the hand clappers," said a store owner in the Chinatown district, adding: "I will not order them again because I want Thailand to be quiet and in peace."
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