DHAKA: Supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the target of weeks of sometimes violent street protests, denounced opposition threats against businesses linked to her family on Saturday ahead of a gathering of their leaders.

Anti-government protesters have blocked key Bangkok intersections with tents, tyres and sandbags, seeking to unseat Yingluck and halt the influence of her billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, an ousted former premier regarded by many as the real power behind the government.

This week they targeted businesses linked, or once linked, to the Shinawatra family, sending stock prices tumbling.

‘What we don’t like right now is their involvement in threatening companies on the stock exchange that is not involved with government,’ Tida Tawornseth, chairman of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), told media, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1607 HRS, FEB 22, 2014