Razor wire and little old ladies keep Thai police at bay

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's Prime Minister has threatened force to remove protesters besieging Government House, although the sheer weight of numbers would be likely to make it a bloody and therefore politically suicidal operation.

Marshalled by retired general Chamlong Srimuang, who led a 1992 "people power" uprising against army rule, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has done everything but dig trenches in the flower beds to consolidate its grip on Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's front lawn.

Makeshift barricades of car tyres, crash barriers, razor wire and pot plants block all roads leading to the PM's compound, creating a secure zone in the heart of the capital where the anti-government forces dictate who comes and goes.

In scenes more reminiscent of a Woodstock rock festival than a would-be revolution, tens of thousands of people camped out inside the zone on Wednesday night, listening to folk music and vitriol against Samak and his elected government.

PAD marshals manned the checkpoints, checking bags for weapons in accordance with the group's stated aim of non-violent protest against what it says is an illegitimate proxy for Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted as premier in a bloodless coup in 2006.

Nearby, in the shadows, lurked small gangs of partially masked men, armed with sticks and golf clubs.

The main problem for the security forces if they did decide to storm the area and exercise arrest warrants on the group's leaders would be the mass of people, many of them middle-aged women, in their way.

With the domestic media and the PAD's own TV crews leaping into action at the first hint of trouble, the authorities are well aware of the potential for a public relations catastrophe.