Thai protesters offer alms to Buddhist monks during a protest outside parliament Monday, Dec. 29, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. The protesters, supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, staged a protest against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva claiming that he came to power this month through a virtual coup d'etat.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) 
A Buddhist monk, center, splashes holy water to Thai protesters during a protest outside Parliament Monday, Dec. 29, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. The protesters, supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, staged a protest against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva claiming that he came to power this month through a virtual coup.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra holding Thai national flags block a road leading to Parliament during a protest rally in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Thousands of supporters of Thaksin surrounded Parliament, daring lawmakers to pass through their ranks to deliver a speech outlining the new government's key policies.(AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Buddhist monks receive food from supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a protest against the government outside Parliament in Bangkok December 29, 2008.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom 
Buddhist monks make their way in line to take alms past protesters outside Parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. Thousands of supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded Parliament, daring lawmakers to pass through their ranks to deliver a speech outlining the new government's key policies.(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
A supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra holds a protest placard outside the entrance of Parliament in Bangkok on December 29. A rally by thousands of protesters outside the Thai parliament building forced the government to delay Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's maiden policy address, officials said.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
Supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra shout slogans as they block the entrance of Parliament in Bangkok on December 29. A rally by thousands of protesters outside the Thai parliament building forced the government to delay Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's maiden policy address, officials said.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
Thai riot police officers stand in formation while guarding inside parliament as protesters stage a protest outside Monday, Dec. 29, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands of supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded Thailand's Parliament on Monday, daring lawmakers led by new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, to pass through their ranks to deliver a speech outlining the new government's key policies.(AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)MORNING STAR
12-29-08
BANGKOK (AFP)--Thousands of protesters blockaded Thailand's parliament Monday, forcing new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to delay his maiden policy speech twice and deepening the kingdom's drawn-out political crisis.
Red-shirted demonstrators loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 military coup, said they would seal off the entrances to parliament until U.K.-born Abhisit calls new elections.
The siege was a familiar situation for many Thais, with protesters copying tactics employed by rival yellow-shirted activists who helped bring down a government led by Thaksin's allies in early December.
The pro-Thaksin protesters said they would allow Abhisit and his cabinet to walk into parliament - but not to come in by car.
Authorities said it was unsafe for legislators to walk in because of the risk of violence.
"The government has informed me that they are coordinating with protesters and have asked me to delay," said house speaker Chai Chidchob, announcing that the speech - originally due to start at 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) - had been put off for a second time from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The speech could be further delayed until Tuesday or even into the new year, he said.
The policy address to the upper and lower houses of parliament is a constitutional requirement before Abhisit's government can start work.
Police said about 9,000 "red-shirts" descended on parliament overnight, after at least 20,000 Thaksin supporters had gathered Sunday night at a city center parade ground several kilometers away.
"We call for the government to dissolve the house and return power to the people," said Chalerm Yoobamrung, a core leader of the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai ( For Thais) party.
Oxford-educated Abhisit won a parliamentary vote two weeks ago to become Thailand's third premier in four months, after a court dissolved the former ruling People Power Party, or PPP, loyal to Thaksin, on Dec. 2.
Abhisit, the head of the Democrat Party, sealed the vote with the help of defectors from the PPP and coalition parties previously allied with it.
Supporters of Thaksin, who is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption, said the verdict in a vote fraud case was a "disguised coup" against the former government.
That verdict followed months of protests by the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, an anti-Thaksin group that blockaded Bangkok's airports earlier this month, causing major damage to the economy.
Abhisit said last week he had ordered police to avoid a repeat of the clashes that occurred at parliament on Oct. 7, when the PAD tried to stop then-premier Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, from delivering his policy speech.
The violence left two people dead and about 500 injured.
The 44-year-old Abhisit faces various problems, ranging from Thailand's sputtering economy to the stark divide between pro- and anti-Thaksin forces.
He has vowed a "grand plan of reconciliation" and a THB300 billion ($8.6 billion) economic stimulus package, but caused controversy by appointing a vocal supporter of the PAD's airport blockade as his foreign minister.
Twice-elected Thaksin is still loathed by many among the Bangkok-based elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy, who backed the PAD and see Thaksin as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to their traditional power base.
But his populist policies won him huge support among the urban and rural poor, especially in his native north and northeast, home to many of Sunday's protesters.
"I don't want the Democrat Party to form the government, and I don't want Abhisit Vejjajiva to be prime minister," company worker Saeng Arun said at the protest.
12-29-08
BANGKOK (AFP)--Thousands of protesters blockaded Thailand's parliament Monday, forcing new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to delay his maiden policy speech twice and deepening the kingdom's drawn-out political crisis.
Red-shirted demonstrators loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 military coup, said they would seal off the entrances to parliament until U.K.-born Abhisit calls new elections.
The siege was a familiar situation for many Thais, with protesters copying tactics employed by rival yellow-shirted activists who helped bring down a government led by Thaksin's allies in early December.
The pro-Thaksin protesters said they would allow Abhisit and his cabinet to walk into parliament - but not to come in by car.
Authorities said it was unsafe for legislators to walk in because of the risk of violence.
"The government has informed me that they are coordinating with protesters and have asked me to delay," said house speaker Chai Chidchob, announcing that the speech - originally due to start at 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) - had been put off for a second time from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The speech could be further delayed until Tuesday or even into the new year, he said.
The policy address to the upper and lower houses of parliament is a constitutional requirement before Abhisit's government can start work.
Police said about 9,000 "red-shirts" descended on parliament overnight, after at least 20,000 Thaksin supporters had gathered Sunday night at a city center parade ground several kilometers away.
"We call for the government to dissolve the house and return power to the people," said Chalerm Yoobamrung, a core leader of the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai ( For Thais) party.
Oxford-educated Abhisit won a parliamentary vote two weeks ago to become Thailand's third premier in four months, after a court dissolved the former ruling People Power Party, or PPP, loyal to Thaksin, on Dec. 2.
Abhisit, the head of the Democrat Party, sealed the vote with the help of defectors from the PPP and coalition parties previously allied with it.
Supporters of Thaksin, who is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption, said the verdict in a vote fraud case was a "disguised coup" against the former government.
That verdict followed months of protests by the royalist People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, an anti-Thaksin group that blockaded Bangkok's airports earlier this month, causing major damage to the economy.
Abhisit said last week he had ordered police to avoid a repeat of the clashes that occurred at parliament on Oct. 7, when the PAD tried to stop then-premier Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, from delivering his policy speech.
The violence left two people dead and about 500 injured.
The 44-year-old Abhisit faces various problems, ranging from Thailand's sputtering economy to the stark divide between pro- and anti-Thaksin forces.
He has vowed a "grand plan of reconciliation" and a THB300 billion ($8.6 billion) economic stimulus package, but caused controversy by appointing a vocal supporter of the PAD's airport blockade as his foreign minister.
Twice-elected Thaksin is still loathed by many among the Bangkok-based elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy, who backed the PAD and see Thaksin as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to their traditional power base.
But his populist policies won him huge support among the urban and rural poor, especially in his native north and northeast, home to many of Sunday's protesters.
"I don't want the Democrat Party to form the government, and I don't want Abhisit Vejjajiva to be prime minister," company worker Saeng Arun said at the protest.
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