Thai protesters defy order to leave PM's compound
Thousands of anti-government protesters defied a court order to leave Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's official compound on Thursday as the group's leaders vowed to stay until his administration fell.
BP Alaska president blasts state business climateSamak, who ordered thousands of police to break up the rally at Government House on Wednesday, softened his tough stance after police failed to exercise arrest warrants overnight for nine leaders of the anti-government campaign.
"After thorough consideration, it would be too dangerous to do so," Samak told reporters at army headquarters after being forced to abandon his main office this week.
"I've told the police not to break up the crowd, but to encourage people to leave," Samak said of the 10,000 supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) camped on the Government House lawn behind makeshift barricades.
The PAD leaders are charged with inciting unrest and trying to overthrow the seven-month-old government, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
"We won't leave Government House as ordered by the Civil Court," one PAD leader, Chamlong Srimuang, told reporters.
"Our demands remain the same - to have the government resign and to prevent an amendment of the 2007 constitution," added Chamlong, an ascetic Buddhist and retired major-general.
That constitution was drawn up under an army-controlled administration after the military overthrew former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a 2006 coup.
ILLEGITIMATE PROXY
The PAD accuses the government elected in December of being an illegitimate proxy of Thaksin, now in exile in London.
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