Thai Protesters Storm Foreign Ministry

Demand resignation of PM Yingluck Shinawatra
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2013 8:31 AM CST
Thai Protesters Storm Foreign Ministry
Anti-government protesters confront with riot police during a rally in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Nov. 25, 2013.   (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Thai protesters, angry over a government they say remains controlled by an ousted leader, have stormed the country's foreign and finance ministry compounds. The demonstrations follow a protest yesterday in Bangkok that drew 150,000, making it the country's biggest in years, the AP reports. Today, singing and dancing protesters poured through finance ministry buildings, with activist and former deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban calling on them to "go up to every floor, go into every room, but do not destroy anything." Some demonstrators cut electricity to the country's budget bureau. Others set up sleeping mats in government buildings, Reuters reports.

Police did little to stop the protesters, who later entered the foreign ministry compound. The demonstrations are headed by the opposition Democrat Party. "Our only objective is to rid the country of the Thaksin regime," Suthep said, referring to the government of PM Yingluck Shinawatra—which opponents say is really run by her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was driven out in a 2006 military coup. A no-confidence debate on Yingluck is set for tomorrow, but she says she's not going anywhere. The latest protests follow a failed bill to allow Thaksin back into the country without doing time for corruption, the BBC notes. (More Thailand stories.)

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