BANGKOK-
The Army Club compound in the Thai capital of Bankok on Tuesday was surrounded by about 500 anti-government protesters while Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra held a weekly cabinet meeting inside.
As the two sides exchanged threats in a long-running political crisis, protest leaders face an ultimatum by the government to give up areas they have taken over in Bangkok by Thursday or face arrest
“The people want to talk to the prime minister because she says she is the people’s prime minister … but we want the premier to listen to us … to our side of the story,” a protest leader, Puttipong Punnakun, said.
There were no reports of any violence or any sign of security forces trying to disperse the protests.
The government declared a state of emergency last week that in theory give it sweeping powers but which it has so far shown no sign of implementing.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has said his supporters would shut down the government body overseeing the emergency decree within 24 hours.
Ten people have so far died in the protests that are entering their third month.On Sunday, when a protest leader was shot, and there are fears violence could soar higher.
Yingluck is Thailand’s fifth prime minister since her brother Thaksin Shinawatra was toppled by the military in 2006 and went into exile.
Yingluck will meet members of the Election Commission later on Tuesday to discuss her plans for a national election on February 2. The commission wants a month-long delay, saying the country is too unstable to successfully hold an election.
Though Yingluck’s party would almost certainly win the vote, there will not be enough MPs elected to form a quorum in parliament and pick a new government.
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