Thai protesters besiege government buildings

BANGKOK, Feb 17 (AFP): Thai demonstrators besieged government offices Monday, including a temporary headquarters used by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, in defiance of authorities who have vowed to reclaim key state buildings.

Angry rice farmers surrounded a defence ministry complex in a Bangkok suburb where Yingluck has held meetings over the last few weeks as the government staggers on through months of protest aimed at toppling her.

Hundreds of farmers breached the perimeter to the complex, but it was not clear if the premier was inside in the building.

As darkness fell the farmers moved their protest, which is over the late payment of billions of dollars for crops pledged into a controversial rice subsidy scheme, to the Commerce Ministry.

The scheme has become a lightning rod for anger among anti-government protesters-who say it is riddled with graft and has punched a hole in Thai public finances-and has now stoked the ire of hundreds of out-of-pocket farmers.

In an attempt to assuage them, Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong said the government had found the money to pay its bill, adding it would need six to eight weeks to reimburse the estimated $3.5 billion owed.

Also on Monday, thousands of demonstrators-among them a hardcore group known as the Student and People Network to Reform Thailand-rallied near Government House.

Some poured buckets of cement onto a sandbag wall in front of a gate to Government House while others manned tyre barricades nearby.

The government is attempting to seize back several official buildings after more than three months of mass rallies seeking to topple Yingluck's administration and curb the political domination of her family.

The prime minister has been unable to use the government's headquarters in the historic heart of Bangkok for about two months, and has instead held meetings in various locations across the capital.