Thai PM vows to end protests but leaders defiant

By Pracha Hariraksapitak

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej ordered thousands of riot police to remove an anti-government crowd occupying his office compound on Wednesday, but protest leaders vowed to stay.

"The Prime Minister said it has to end today," Samak's chief spokesman Wichianchot Sukchotrat told reporters. "Thousands of police will be deployed to move the protesters out of the Government House."

A court also ordered the flag-waving members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to abandon their two-day old siege of the government headquarters. But PAD leaders said they would not budge and they planned to appeal the ruling on Thursday.

"We respect the court's order, but we don't have enough time to move out and we will launch an appeal," said Samran Rodpetch, standing on a stage as demonstrators reinforced barricades blocking roads near the site to stop the police.

Dozens of police trucks were parked on streets near Government House and police doctors and ambulances were on stand-by at police headquarters, Thai television reports said.

By late Wednesday, police had taken no direct action against the rally despite court-issued arrest warrants for nine PAD leaders, accusing them of inciting unrest and trying to overthrow the government, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Two thousand police have taken up position in and around the compound, though the only confrontation was early on Wednesday when 15 people were injured in scuffles with police.

An opinion poll showed a marked shift in the public mood against the PAD, whose 2005 protests against then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra led ultimately to his removal in a military coup the following year.