Thai leader urged to resign after 锟斤拷1bn deal
(Daily Telegraph)
Updated: 2006-03-06 09:17

Around 60,000 demonstrators marched on the headquarters of the Thai government last night demanding the prime minister's resignation.

People wave flags and placards during a demonstration against Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Sanam Luang in Bangkok March 5, 2006. [REUTERS]

With fears of unrest growing in Bangkok, thousands of riot police lined the streets as the protesters, led by hundreds of robed Buddhist monks, made their way to Government House.

They vowed to camp out at Sanam Luang, a field in the historic heart of the Thai capital, until Thaksin Shinawatra steps down.

"We still have to make sacrifices to get Thaksin out of office, so Thaksin, for the sake of the country, quit," said the media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul, once a key ally of the premier.

Mr Thaksin was re-elected by a landslide last year but his government has since faced a series of corruption scandals, culminating in his family making 锟斤拷1 billion from the sale of the telecommunications firm he built up, not paying a penny in tax on the deal.

In an effort to end a snowballing campaign against him Mr Thaksin, who two years ago announced he was in talks to buy Liverpool FC, called snap elections for early next month.

But the main opposition party, the Democrats, has said it will boycott the polls, as have the other two parties with elected MPs.

They insist they want to see constitutional reforms before any poll, but in reality Mr Thaksin would be expected to win a contested election, albeit with a reduced majority.

His populist policies and government hand-outs are hugely popular in the countryside, where most Thais live, while the opposition's support is concentrated among the urban middle classes.