Thai protesters settle down to stay at PM's office
Friday, 29 August 2008
BANGKOK, AUG 28 (AP): Anti-government protesters hunkered down at the Thai prime minister's office compound Thursday evening, preparing to extend their occupation for a third night with no end to the standoff in sight.
As dusk approached, the crowd of several thousand began to swell slightly as some protesters returned after spending the day at their workplaces. They vowed to stay for as long as it takes to push Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej out of office.
"We can withstand any difficult conditions if we can topple Samak," said Kitja Usaiphan, 43, a fisherman who has been camping at the site since Tuesday with other followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy.
The alliance accuses Samak's government to step down, accusing it of serving as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and faces several pending corruptioncases. Thaksin is in self-imposed exile in Britain.
The demonstrators continued to defy a court order to end their occupation, saying they had a right to remain and would stay until the country's leaders resign.
For the time being, the authorities seem to be content to leave them stay there, as the rest of the city and the country carries on with business as usual.
Samak said Thursday that the court order had given the government extra leverage to deal with the protesters, but he has vowed not to use force to remove them.
As dusk approached, the crowd of several thousand began to swell slightly as some protesters returned after spending the day at their workplaces. They vowed to stay for as long as it takes to push Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej out of office.
"We can withstand any difficult conditions if we can topple Samak," said Kitja Usaiphan, 43, a fisherman who has been camping at the site since Tuesday with other followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy.
The alliance accuses Samak's government to step down, accusing it of serving as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and faces several pending corruptioncases. Thaksin is in self-imposed exile in Britain.
The demonstrators continued to defy a court order to end their occupation, saying they had a right to remain and would stay until the country's leaders resign.
For the time being, the authorities seem to be content to leave them stay there, as the rest of the city and the country carries on with business as usual.
Samak said Thursday that the court order had given the government extra leverage to deal with the protesters, but he has vowed not to use force to remove them.