The Thai prime minister stayed away from his office yesterday as thousands of protesters calling for his resignation and allied with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded the seat of government for a fifth day.
Protesters ignored police warnings to stop blocking entrances to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s office, where they have gathered since Thursday in the largest protests since his administration arrived in December.
The demonstrators say Abhisit’s government came to power through illegal means and should step down. Abhisit has rejected their calls.
PHOTO: AFP
Abhisit said last week he would enter his office at Government House yesterday. But he revised the plan yesterday morning, saying the situation remained under control, but he would not be going to his office before traveling to London today for the G20 summit.
“I have not received any report of anything abnormal,” he told reporters at parliament before a meeting at the UN’s regional headquarters, which is near Government House.
Hundreds of protesters staged a loud but peaceful protest outside the UN office amid tight security.
The protests are the latest episode in Thailand’s long-running political turmoil, which last year was dominated by months of demonstrations by Thaksin’s political opponents, who besieged Government House and shuttered Bangkok’s two main airports for a week.
Outside Government House, police shouted warnings through loudspeakers: “If you don’t disperse, we will use crowd control measures ranging from soft measures to harsh measures.”
But the warnings emboldened thousands of protesters gathered in the midday heat, as they listened to speakers on a makeshift stage.
“Please prepare yourselves for possible crackdown,” one protest leader, Nattawut Sai-kua, told the crowd. “But you have nothing to fear. Thousands more will join us if the police use violence.”
Police lieutenant-general Worapong Chiewpreecha said security officials have not been ordered to disperse the crowd. Abhisit has repeatedly said the government will not use violence.
The latest protests have been organized by demonstrators commonly known as the “red shirts” because of their attire, which contrasts with the yellow shirts worn by their rivals, who led last year’s protests.
The group is an eclectic mix of Thaksin loyalists, rural farmers and laborers.
On Sunday, Abhisit said authorities are trying to block the call-ins by Thaksin, who has become the main attraction at the rallies, speaking via video link on an almost nightly basis from abroad. He has called for supporters to stage nationwide protests.
Thaksin was deposed by a 2006 coup for corruption and abuse of power. He fled into exile last year before a court convicted him in absentia of violating a conflict of interest law.
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