Thai protesters besiege govt buildings,call on PM to quit

Thousands of protesters continued their siege of government buildings which began on Monday as the Parliament discussed a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister.

Demonstrators surrounded the interior,agriculture,transport,and sports and tourism ministries,ordering officials inside to leave,a day after they broke into the finance and foreign ministries and cut off electric and water supply.

Suthep,a former deputy Prime Minister and senior leader from the opposition Democrat party,vowed to “seize all ministries” after storming the finance ministry yesterday.

The protests raised fears of fresh street violence since 2010 as thousands of demonstrators rallied against Prime Minister Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra,who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

The demonstrations,sparked by an amnesty bill that could have allowed the return of Thaksin from self-imposed exile,escalated troubles for Yingluck since she took office in 2011 with Thaksin support from the “Red Shirts”,whose 2010 protests were crushed by the then Democrat-led government.

Opposition Democrat Party leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva attacked Prime Minister Yingluck denouncing her as the “centre of comprehensive corruption practises”.

During the first day of the censure debate against Yingluck and Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan,Abhisit alleged corrupt practices centred on Yingluck at every step and added that she tolerated corruption from “mountaintop to overlapping sea territories with ulterior motives”.

Abhisit said the Yingluck government may have won the majority in the House but it also had caused hardship.

“The government has held the country and its people hostage on several occasions. The prime minister let individuals in the government commit corruption.”

The People’s Army to Overthrow Thaksin’s Regime announced that its protesters would stay overnight in front of the Interior Ministry.

They could not enter the ministry’s compound because riot-control policemen were deployed to guard the ministry.

Meanwhile,the Thai Foreign Ministry has sent a letter of

explanation on the current political situation to the United

Nations,UN Security Council and foreign countries,Foreign

Minister Surapong Tohvichakchaikul said here.

The ongoing political protest in Thailand,which has seen protesters storming government offices,was illegal,undemocratic and had a negative impact on the national security,he said.

He also sent notes to the foreign diplomatic corps in Thailand,the UN in New York,the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as five ministers of the UNSC country members – the US,UK,China,France and Russia – to explain the current political situation.

The political instability has worried the country’s tourism industry.

The tourism industry could lose 25 billion Thai Baht in revenue next month if countries issue their highest warnings against travelling to the Kingdom,Sugree Sithivanich,deputy governor for marketing communications of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT),said.

If the scenario got even worse,like in 2008 when Suvarnabhumi Airport was shut down by protesters,the tourism outlook would be hit even harder.

According to the TAT’s projection,the number of foreign tourists would plunge to 650,000 in December,a decline of 18-20 per cent year on year.