DHAKA: Thousands of protesters have surrounded Bangkok's Government House seeking the removal of Thailand's embattled caretaker government, amid soaring political tensions in the wake of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ouster.
The People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), which has been protesting against the government since November, is pushing to replace the country's caretaker administration with an unelected interim government.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban took to the stage and told those gathered: "We will sleep here tonight, we will eat here. After lunch ... we will go to visit the Parliament House, because there is a meeting to select a new Speaker of the House today.
"If the Speaker is a slave of Thaksin, there will be one treatment; if not, there will be another treatment for them."
The PDRC has been seeking to rid Thai politics of the alleged influence of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's telecommunications tycoon brother who was overthrown in a 2006 military coup and has since lived in self-imposed exile to avoid a corruption conviction.
Lt. Gen. Paradon Patthanathabut, security adviser to the prime minister told CNN that the PDRC had mobilized supporters from the countryside to join the protests in the capital. "It is still difficult to estimate the crowd at this moment. But roughly, we think between 30,000-60,000 people might join today's rally."
He said smaller groups of PDRC protesters were also gathering around Bangkok television stations.
"We are monitoring (the situation) closely," he said, adding that 60,000 security forces were on standby.
Despite the large crowds gathered, the scene at Government House was relaxed, with stalls being erected and free food and drink handed out. A minute's silence was held for those killed in the country's longstanding political conflict.
At another demonstration at the Royal Thai Police Club, police used tear gas and water cannon on protesters who attempted to enter the complex, said Paradon.
Source: CNN
BDST: 1333 HRS, MAY 09, 2014
