Monday March 6, 2006

Thai PM rejects calls for resignation

BANGKOK (AP) - Thailand's embattled prime minister dismissed calls for his resignation Monday, after thousands of demonstrators marched to his office and insisted protests would continue every day until Thaksin Shinawatra steps down.

"I will not resign because my resignation will not resolve anything,'' Thaksin told reporters.

At least 100,000 protesters filled the streets around Government House on Sunday and stayed until well past midnight following a boisterous rally accusing Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power.

Some 2,000 remained on Monday.

Earlier report

BANGKOK (AP) - Demonstrators who marched to the Thai prime minister's office in a mass show of force said Monday they would gather in protest every day until Thaksin Shinawatra resigns over corruption allegations.

At least 100,000 protesters filled the streets around Government House on Sunday and stayed until well past midnight following a boisterous rally accusing Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power.

By Monday morning, the crowd dwindled to about 2,000, who were camping out at Sanam Luang, the Royal Field, where the protest had been staged.

Most were members of the Buddhist Santi Asoke sect whose leader Chamlong Srimuang is among Thaksin's most powerful opponents.

"We will protest every day to pressure Thaksin until he resigns,'' Chamlong told The Associated Press.

He said anti-Thaksin activists, who include many from Bangkok's middle class, were asked to return to their daily lives but reassemble after working hours every day.

"The country has faced a crisis because of one person. The people will kick him out in a few days,'' university lecturer Somkiat Pongpaibul told the rally.

Over and over, the protesters shouted "Thaksin out! Thaksin out!'' Tens of thousands of Thais have been demanding Thaksin's resignation at regular weekend rallies in recent months, putting him on the defensive and leading to the country's biggest political crisis since 1992, when street protests forced the ouster of a military backed government.

The prime minister has repeatedly rejected calls for his resignation and instead called snap elections for April 2.

He left the capital, Bangkok, early Sunday to campaign in the northeast.

Opposition parties have vowed to boycott the elections, which Thaksin - whose populist policies have earned him widespread popularity in rural areas - would almost certainly win.

The anti-Thaksin campaign swelled last month after the prime minister's family sold its controlling stake in telecom giant Shin Corp. to a Singapore state-owned investment company netting 73.3 billion baht (US$1.9 billion; euro1.55 billion).

Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and tax dodges and complain that a key national asset is now in the hands of a foreign government.

Police estimated that about 50,000 people initially gathered Sunday evening at Sanam Luang before the crowd swelled to more than 100,000 when protesters marched on Government House. But organizers were more bullish.

Publisher Sondhi Limthongkul, a key figure in the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy, said that moving "200,000 people'' though the streets of Bangkok without sparking a major confrontation was "a victory.''

At Sanam Luang, speaker after speaker lambasted Thaksin.

He was satirised in a comic Chinese opera, burned in a mock funeral, and called a liar in song.

The protesters then began their march.

More than 100,000 of Thaksin's supporters staged a rally Friday at Sanam Luang, at which he offered to resign if he failed to secure more than half the votes in the April polls.

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