Thailand: Anti-government protesters mass outside Interior Ministry

Nearly 1,000 flag-waving anti-government protesters massed in front of Thailand's Interior Ministry on Tuesday, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra a day after storming compounds of two government ministries.

Protest leaders said the demonstrations would spread, raising the risk of violence after a tough security law was imposed across Bangkok late on Monday to control tens of thousands of protesters rallying against Yingluck and her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, was ousted in a 2006 military coup but has hovered ghost-like over Thai politics since fleeing the country in 2008, accused of undermining the country's powerful monarchy, breaching conflict-of-interest laws and sentenced in absentia to two years in prison.

He remains a populist hero among the rural masses but is reviled by much of the traditional Bangkok elite of top generals, royal advisers, middle-class bureaucrats and business leaders - a group that backs the opposition Democrat Party.

After forcing their way inside the Finance Ministry on Monday and bursting through the gates of the Foreign Ministry compound, the Democrat-led protesters marched on Tuesday to the agriculture, tourism, transport and interior ministries.

"Our important mission today is to surround the four important ministries of the government," Watchara Ritthakanee, a protest leader, told a cheering, whistle-blowing crowd.

The government shut and evacuated staff from the agriculture, tourism, transport ministries which are now guarded by protesters to stop people entering. About 800 protesters surrounded the Interior Ministry, warning staff to leave or they would storm the building, witnesses said.

A 15-minute standoff ensued as thousands of protesters tried to march to Government House, the prime minister's offices, which was heavily barricaded by police. They retreated to Bangkok's historic quarter, an area popular with tourists where they have set up a main stage.

Yingluck and her ruling Pheu Thai Party began a two-day confidence debate in parliament where they hold a commanding majority after the opposition accused them of graft and trying to pass laws to white-wash Thaksin of corruption allegations.

At the Finance Ministry, more than 1,000 protesters filled a courtyard, waving Thai flags and chanting "Get out! Get out!" against the government. Many had stayed overnight, sleeping on plastic mats.

The seizing of government buildings by protesters has plunged Thailand into its deepest political uncertainty since it was convulsed three years ago by the bloodiest political unrest in a generation.

The uncertainty is driving foreign investors out of the Thai financial markets, making the baht the second-worst performing emerging Asian currency in November. The baht has lost 2.7 percent this month, while Thai stocks have retreated about 6 percent.

BACKUP OFFICE

The Finance Ministry is still functioning well despite its seizure by protesters, the minister said.

"Key officials are still working as normal from our backup office," Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong told Reuters. "So there will be no impact on the fiscal budget and important functions."

Salaries are handled by Krung Thai Bank and government bond auctions are normally managed by the Bank of Thailand, officials say.

Kittirat said he was worried about investor confidence: "There will be some impact on the economy in the current quarter if the situation continues."

Kittirat said the ministry would file a lawsuit against protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban and investigate ministry officials who had facilitated the invasion.

Suthep, a former deputy prime minister in the previous Democrat-led government, said he would welcome any police or soldiers who wanted to join his campaign.

"We hope that this time it will be a movement of the people to temporarily take hold of the governance of this country," Suthep told Reuters. "If the police or military join us, we welcome them. But they will have to listen to the people."

A warrant has been issued for Suthep's arrest.

Yingluck, 46, has remained defiant, saying she would not step down.

Her broad support in Thailand's vote-rich rural north and northeast helped her win a 2011 election by a landslide, making her Thailand's first woman prime minister.