Thousands of flag-waving Thai protesters stormed more ministries as they intensified their mass campaign to cripple the government of embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for a fourth day today, plunging the polarised nation deeper into chaos.
The whistle-blowing protesters forced the evacuation of besieged Department of Special Investigations and targeted another nine ministries, stepping up their defiance of the government and demanding Yingluck's resignation.
They laid siege to the Industry, Energy, Labour, Public Health, Foreign Affairs and Commerce Ministry. The protesters ordered officials at the Energy Ministry's offices to stop working, insisting that the current government is no longer legitimate.
Outside Bangkok, they surrounded nearly 25 provincial halls in the opposition's southern heartlands, posing the biggest challenge to Yingluck and her exiled brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
"We will not give up even if the prime minister resigns or dissolves parliament. We will stop only when power is in the hands of the people," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told supporters.
Prime Minister Yingluck called an urgent meeting of key government officials at Parliament and said she would resolve the situation peacefully and cautiously. She said all offices would have to prevent any damage to state property, leakage of confidential information and back up important records.
The beleaguered Prime Minister, who faced a no-confidence motion in Parliament, asked officials to prepare contingency plans and alternative workplaces.
The protests, triggered by an amnesty bill that could have allowed the return of Thaksin from self-imposed exile, raised fears of fresh street violence since 2010 when over 90 people were killed in a military crackdown on demonstrations by Thaksin's supporters.
Suthep, for whom an arrest warrant was issued yesterday, called on protesting crowds to storm all ministries and provincial halls nationwide today.
"Let the people go to every ministry that remains to make civil servants stop serving the Thaksin regime. Once you take over, civil servants can no longer serve the Thaksin regime. Brothers and sisters, go seize the city hall," he said
"We are very upbeat and I think we will win in a few days," Sethup, a former deputy Prime Minister and senior leader from the opposition Democrat party, told reporters as he left his de facto headquarters at the occupied Finance Ministry.
Protesters yesterday stormed the Interior, Agriculture, Transport, 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.
