THAILAND:THAILAND'S RULING coalition was last night facing the most serious challenge of its short tenure, as thousands of protesters remained holed up in the government house compound, after besieging several state buildings.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the royalist coalition that led the protests, described the agitation as a "final showdown" with an administration they see as little more than a proxy for Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister.
The PAD also led massive protests preceding a September 2006 military coup against Mr Thaksin.
The Thai army - which was dismayed when Mr Thaksin's allies triumphed in the elections 15 months after the coup - indicated it would not intervene in the crisis, with Gen Anupong Paochinda, the army chief, declaring: "I want to insist there won't be a coup."
Analysts say the PAD's increasingly aggressive tactics appear to be aimed at provoking a violent response, hoping to force prime minister Samak Sundaravej, a Thaksin ally, to stand down.
This would potentially pave the way for the opposition Democrats to come to power, or precipitate a military intervention.
"I won't leave until there is political change," Sonthi Limthongkul, PAD leader, declared in the government house compound. "If you want me to leave, you will have to kill me and take my body out of here."
Mr Samak said his administration would neither use force, nor declare a state of emergency, as such measures would "destroy the atmosphere of the country". He said so far 85 protesters had been arrested.
"They want bloodshed in the country," Mr Samak told foreign journalists yesterday. "They want the military to stage a coup again."
Mr Samak predicted a swift end to the siege, saying: "We don't count by days, we count by hours. We think by tomorrow it will be finished." However, a 6pm deadline for the protesters to leave the compound passed unheeded, raising questions about the premier's plans to use "soft measures" to reclaim the area. The day's drama began early in the morning, when about 85 masked protesters, armed with knives, sticks, machetes and other weapons, seized state broadcaster NBT and briefly forced the channel off the air. They later surrounded parts of the ministries of finance, agriculture and transport, and a police compound, although they later abandoned the ministries to reinforce the government house siege, after demonstrators stormed the compound.
The crisis highlights the deep fissures that remain even after Mr Thaksin's departure. He fled to the UK earlier this month, leaving criminal cases of alleged abuse of power pending against him.
- (Financial Times service)