Thousands of protesters yesterday flooded into Bangkok's ritzy downtown shopping area to press demands for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to quit, one week ahead of trouble-plagued elections.
The march came just hours after 100,000 people gathered overnight in the largest demonstration so far. Protesters urged the widely respected king to appoint a new prime minister and break a political deadlock before the polls, which are being boycotted by main opposition parties.
Chants of "Thaksin, get out!" erupted from crowds rallying around the gleaming Siam Paragon, Bangkok's largest shopping mall, where protest leaders vowed another demonstration would take place later in the week.
"This is the last polite request for Thaksin to resign," said media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul, a former ally of the premier who has emerged as a key anti-Thaksin leader.
Nearby protesters passed out flyers reading "Nero fiddled while Rome burned, Thaksin shops while Thailand burns," as curious onlookers crowded onto footbridges.
Amid the sea of waving flags and yellow headbands that have come to symbolize the anti-Thaksin movement, shoppers trying to get into the Paragon were shuttled into the car park's rear entrance by wary security guards who had locked the main doors.
The protesters, whom wit-nesses said numbered almost 10,000 by midday, also took aim at Singapore's state-linked investment firm Temasak. It recently acquired Shin Corp, the telecoms giant Thaksin founded before entering public office.
Thaksin has been battling weeks of demonstrations calling for him to resign since his family pocketed almost US$2 billion in a tax-free sale of its Shin Corp stock to Temasak.
Demonstrators in Bangkok accuse him of corruption and abuse of power, but he remains widely popular in the countryside.
"Thaksin is the worst prime minister ever ... he is corrupt and sold the country to Singapore," Sondhi said.
"Thaksin is like a high-society person shopping at Siam Paragon. If he has money, go shopping in Singapore," he told the protesters, who moved on to the Central World Plaza.
The protesters jammed the road in front of that mall before marching on to another shopping center, the Emporium.
National police spokesman Ajirawid Subarnbhesaj said yesterday 1,300 police were posted along Sukhumvit Road, warning that the rally could snarl traffic along the busy thoroughfare.
But the demonstration, which broke up around 3pm, remained peaceful, interrupted only by the blaring horns of impatient drivers stalled by the throng.
Appeals to the king have grown in the last week, as Thailand nears April 2 elections that have been boycotted by the opposition and are already marred by claims of fraud.
The king has so far shown no sign that he is willing to step into the crisis. In the past, he has only intervened in politics in times of bloodshed.
Advance voting began on Sat-urday for those who cannot make it to the polls next week. Among those who cast ballots were the king's chief adviser Prem Tinsulanonda, in what Thaksin's supporters saw as a sign that the election would go ahead.
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