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Protesters ring Thai government, demand resignation

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-27 11:20

BANGKOK -- Supporters of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded the government's main office Thursday to demand its dissolution, drawing tens of thousands to a boisterous rally and clearing police barricades with construction cranes.

Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gather at the Government House in Bangkok March 26, 2009.  [Agencies]

The new burst of political turmoil, which plagued Thailand throughout most of last year, came as the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva grappled with the country's worst economic crisis in a decade.

The demonstration by some 30,000 red-shirted Thaksin loyalists started shortly after the government began doling out 2,000 baht (US$55) checks to millions of low-income Thais to stimulate an export-dependent economy battered by loss of global markets.

While recipients gladly scooped up the checks and rushed off to department stores or savings banks, the protesters derided the handouts as a poor imitation of Thaksin's populist policies.

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"Is he (Abhisit) trying to buy us off?" said a protest leader, Nattawut Sai-kua. "It is not going to work. We will protest until this illegitimate government is gone."

The demonstrators vowed to remain for at least two more days around Government House, which includes the prime minister's offices. They say Abhisit's government came to power through illegal means and are demanding a dissolution of Parliament and fresh elections.

As dusk approached, their numbers swelled to more than 30,000, Interior Minister Chavarat Chanweerakul said. About 10,000 police and soldiers were deployed to quell any violence.

Singing folk songs and dancing, the demonstrators had traveled on the city's main roads to convene outside the offices, pushing through a police cordon as officers gave way to the crowds.

Police had placed sand-filled cargo containers across one street to block access, but protesters drove to the site with two yellow construction cranes, and used them to pick up the containers and toss them into a nearby canal to the exhuberant cheers of fellow protesters.

"We want this illegitimate government out. The longer they stay, the more damage will be done to Thai democracy," protest leader Jatuporn Phromphan told the cheering crowd at Government House from a makeshift stage.

The "red-shirts," as they are commonly known because of their favored color, say Abhisit rose to power through illegal means _ after courts, backed by the powerful military, removed two previous pro-Thaksin administrations last year.

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

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