bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Thai opposition protesters besieged several more ministries in Bangkok on Tuesday to try to topple the government, as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra faced a no-confidence motion in parliament and warned against “mob rule”.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have rallied against Yingluck and her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in the biggest street protests since 2010, when more than 90 people were killed in a military crackdown.
Demonstrators surrounded the interior, agriculture, transport, and sports and tourism ministries, ordering officials inside to leave, a day after occupying the finance and foreign ministries.
Video: Thai political protests paralyse more ministries

The turmoil has caused international concern and raised fears of fresh street violence in a country that has been rocked by several episodes of political unrest since royalist generals overthrew Thaksin in a 2006 coup.
The billionaire telecoms tycoon-turned-politician draws strong support from many of the country’s rural and urban working class. But he is loathed among the elite and the middle classes, who accuse him of being corrupt and a threat to the monarchy.
Several thousand protesters, waving Thai flags and blowing whistles, marched to the interior ministry, which was guarded by hundreds of security personnel.
“We don’t dislike Thaksin – we loathe him. This is the end for him,” said Dhiranut Bunna, a 43-year-old housewife from Bangkok who was among the protesters still at the finance ministry.
Apart from the interior ministry, most government buildings taken over had only a light security presence outside.
But security has been tightened on Bangkok’s streets since the expansion late Monday of the Internal Security Act, which gives authorities additional powers to block routes, impose a curfew, ban gatherings and carry out searches.
A Thai court on Tuesday approved an arrest warrant for protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban – who resigned from the opposition Democrat Party to head the rallies – in connection with the occupation of government buildings.
“I ask him to surrender, otherwise police can arrest him on sight,” said Colonel Sunthorn Kongklam of Bang Sue police station in the capital.
Yingluck on Tuesday reiterated that authorities would “absolutely not use violence” as she arrived at parliament, which was guarded by dozens of police.
“Everybody must obey the law and not use mob rule to upstage the rule of law,” she told reporters.

	We don’t dislike Thaksin – we loathe him. This is the end for him

	Bangkok housewife, Dhiranut Bunna
The no-confidence motion was introduced by the Democrats, who have not won an elected majority in parliament in about two decades, as part of a barrage of challenges to Yingluck’s embattled government.
Debate began on Tuesday and the ruling Puea Thai party, which holds a comfortable majority, is expected to win the censure vote expected later in the week.
Adding to tensions in the capital, an unexploded hand grenade was discovered outside a Democrat Party office in Bangkok on Tuesday, police said.

‘Big move’ threatened
Recent protests were sparked by Puea Thai plans to introduce an amnesty that could have allowed the return from self-imposed exile of Thaksin.
Outrage over that plan failed to ebb after the amnesty was quashed by the Senate on November 11.
Protest spokesman Akanat Promphan said the protesters would wait until Wednesday before making a “big move”. Authorities said demonstrators had ended their occupation of the foreign ministry as they focused on other targets.
Former Thai diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan’s Kyoto University, said there was a possibility of “violent clashes”.
“I think the mob has become a little bit desperate now, moving into and occupying government offices so there could be some kind of provocation against the police,” he said.
He said the government had so far been careful to avoid any “pre-emptive action” against the rallies as it faces opposition challenges in parliament and on the streets.
“You are now seeing a kind of twin engine working to overthrow the Yingluck government,” he added.
Yingluck swept to power in 2011 polls on a wave of support from the “red shirts”, whose 2010 protests were crushed by the then Democrat-led government.
“Suthep is not trying to throw out the government ... he wants to throw out democracy and replace it with an ultra-royalist administration,” red-shirt leader Thida Thavornseth said.
Protests by the royalist “yellow shirts” helped to trigger the coup that toppled Thaksin, who now lives abroad to avoid a prison term for corruption that he contends was politically motivated.


Thailand’s poorest hail US$14 billion cash handout scheme - ‘we can breathe’

Thailand ‘desperate’ for land bridge project to boost growth but could face roadblocks ahead

‘Back to square one’? Thailand confronts ghosts of its past with Shinawatra restoration

‘Puppet of her dad’: new Thai PM Paetongtarn to remain in Thaksin’s shadow, analysts say

Yingluck Shinawatra

Protests against Yingluck Shinawatra government continue in Bangkok

Tens thousands of anti-government protesters took over four more ministries in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

Anti-government street protests intensify in Thailand. Photo: Reuters

Riot policemen stand guard as Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra debates at the Parliament House in Bangkok. Photo: Xinhua

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra speaks in parliament. Photo: Xinhua

Yingluck Shinawatra, the 'puppet' hanging by a thread in Thailand

Illustration: Henry Wong

Suthep Thaugsuban at protest

Thai anti-government protesters demand PM Yingluck Shinwatra quits

Anti-government protesters stage a rally in Bangkok calling for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down. Photo: AP

Anti-government protesters at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. Photo: Reuters 

Organisers hope the number of protesters will swell to a million.

Thai court ruling deals new blow to government

Anti-government protesters shout slogans as they gather outside the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Thai policemen stand guard around the Constitutional Court in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Red Shirt protesters gather to show support for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government during a mass rally at Rajamangala stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA

Thai PM Yingluck pleads for rallies to end after amnesty defeated

Thai opposition protesters during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok on Monday. Photo: AFP

Riot police secure an area outside government house as Thai opposition protesters attend an anti-government rally. Photo: AFP

Former Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the anti-government movement. Photo: Xinhua

News

Asia

Demonstrators target more ministries in effort to topple ruling party ahead of censure vote


Thai opposition protesters besieged several more ministries in Bangkok on Tuesday to try to topple the government, as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra faced a no-confidence motion in parliament and warned against “mob rule”.
