Thai protesters target ministries

BANGKOK: Protesters trying to topple Thailand’s government moved to tighten the blockade around ministries on Tuesday and a hardline faction threatened to storm the stock exchange, while major intersections in the capital Bangkok remained blocked.
The turmoil is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier ousted by the military in 2006.
Many ministries and the central bank were forced to work from back-up offices on Monday after protesters led by Suthep Thaugsuban stopped civil servants getting to work.
“We must surround government buildings, closing them in the morning and leaving in the afternoon,” Suthep told supporters late on Monday, urging them to do that every day until Yingluck steps down.
Groups of demonstrators marched peacefully from their seven big protest camps to ministries, the customs office, the planning agency and other state bodies on Tuesday, aiming to paralyse the workings of government.
A student group allied to Suthep’s People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) has threatened to attack the stock exchange, with faction leader Nitithorn Lamlua telling supporters on Monday it represented “a wicked capitalist system that provided the path for Thaksin to become a billionaire”.
A PDRC spokesman said the bourse was not one its targets.
“We will not lay siege to places that provide services for the general public, including airports, the stock exchange and trains. However, we will block government offices to stop them from functioning,” Akanat Promphan told supporters at a rally.
Jarumporn Chotikasathien, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, told Reuters emergency measures had been prepared to secure the premises and trading systems. Trading was normal during the morning, with the index up slightly. (Reuters)