SECURITY CORDONS BROKEN; PAD MOVES ON GOVERNMENT HOUSE

BANGKOK, June 20 - Thousands of anti-government demonstrators broke through riot police blockades to push their way towards Government House.

Breaking through the cordons, Peoples' Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders said they are expecting "hundreds of thousands" of sympathisers to join the rally, including some members of state enterprise unions who are to join them.

Protesters seeking to remove the seated government attempted to access Government House from a nearby railway station Friday morning, but were blocked by police barricades, even as a key protest leader, retired Maj-Gen. Chamlong Srimuan renewed his pledge that the democracy activists would not use any weapons or violence. If disorder or physical force is used, he affirmed, it would not come from the anti-government protesters.

Thousands of police officers armed with riot shieds barricaded roads around Thailand's Government House to block anti-government protestors from moving in to besiege the government seat Friday afternoon, aimed at forcing the elected government to resign.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who also serves as defence minister, earlier pledged to refrain from using force against the protesters.

Friday morning the premier was attending a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in preparation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

Meanwhile, Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Suebwonglee reportedly shifted the venue of a meeting from Government House to the Ministry of Finance in an apparent bid to avoid confrontation with the demonstrators.

Other cabinet members are nowhere to be seen, and some government civil servants have opted to stay at home in fear of possible violence.

Security around Government House has been tightened with uniformed police manning the barricades along all routes to the government seat.

The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and its supporters have been demonstrating since May 25 in a bid to pressure the four-month-old coalition government to resign, claiming that Mr. Samak and his People Power Party are proxies of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

(TNA)