Thai protesters on the march again

THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters have resumed their marching in Bangkok, demanding that caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down to make way for a government free of nepotism and corruption.

The demonstrators, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, left their protest site at the Democracy Monument in the city's government quarter on Thursday morning and marched to the busy Sukhumvit Road, in Bangkok's tourist belt.
Later in the day the protesters, many blowing whistles and shouting "Yingluck out" and "We don't want corrupt government", said they planned to march along Sukhumvit Road and back to the Democracy Monument in a show of strength.
Marchers said some of the protesters planned to break off from the main body of the demonstration and march to the US Embassy to protest against perceived official US support for the Yingluck government.
The noisy but peaceful march followed a lull of several days in a campaign that attracted as many as 150,000 marchers earlier this month and triggered skirmishes with police and pro-government activists.
Suthep, secretary-general of the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee, has rejected Yingluck's bid to defuse the crisis by dissolving parliament and calling a snap election on February 2.
He said anti-government groups will hold another, larger, demonstration on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Election Commission chairman Supachai Somcharoen denied reports that the poll would be postponed, saying it would take place on February 2 as scheduled.
Suthep said another election would only help entrench the corrupt political machine of Yingluck's elder brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a coup in 2006 and fled the country in 2008 to avoid a two-year jail term for abuse of power.
Suthep's campaign has attracted wide support in Bangkok but is strongly opposed in the country's relatively poor regions of the north and north-east, where Thaksin is revered for his populist policies.
Thaksin's Pheu Thai party won the last election in July 2011 with a majority of over 4 million votes, and Thaksin-supported parties have won every national election in Thailand since 2001.
The main opposition party, the Democrats, have until December 23 to decide whether to support Suthep's call to reject the election or take part in the uphill electoral battle.

source-www.news.com