Anti-Government Rally Moves to Thailand’s Prime Ministers Doorstep
Saturday, thousands of protesters are camping outside the office of Thailand’s prime minister demanding his resignation, according to reports. Protesters delivered anti-government speeches, waved flags and sang songs. After the initial scuffle, the police offered little resistance to the massive crowd, which surged to the gates of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s Bangkok office to stage a sit-in. They have vowed to wait outside the prime minister’s office until he steps down.

The Government House in Thailand was quiet on Friday, as most officials had fled their office shortly before tens of thousands of People’s Alliance for Democracy or PAD supporters laid siege to it. Only half of Government House officials had come to work. Iron barricades were set up at all the entrances and every road leading to the building. Prime Minister and his five deputies did not show up at the Government House.

The meeting on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit preparation, chaired by the prime minister, was moved from Government House to the Foreign Ministry, while Deputy Prime Minister Surapong changed the venue of the SML scheme meeting to the Finance Ministry instead.

However, the Thai stock market rose 3.56% on Friday as anti-government rallies held at the prime minister’s headquarters remained peaceful. The Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index soared 26.44 points to close at 768.90 points, while the bluechip SET 50 index rebounded 21.88 points to close at 550.46. Over the past month, fears of confrontation have led to a 13% decline on Thailand’s stock exchange.

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