DHAKA: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the target of anti-government protesters who have blocked parts of Bangkok for weeks, has left the city and is staying 150km away.

Her office said on Monday, without specifying the location, reports The Straits Times.

The protests, punctuated by occasional gunfire and bomb blasts, including one on Sunday which killed a woman and a young brother and sister, are aimed at unseating Yingluck and erasing the influence of her brother, ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, regarded by many as the real power behind the government.

Yingluck’s office told reporters she was not in Bangkok and asked media to follow a convoy outside the city where they said Yingluck was ‘undertaking official duties’ 150km away.

The office would not confirm how many days Yingluck had been working from outside the capital. She was last seen in public in Bangkok nearly a week ago, last Tuesday, and is due to attend a corruption hearing there capital on Thursday.

BDST: 1115 HRS, FEB 24, 2014