Thai Street Protests Continue as PM Refuses to Resign

by Jarrett Martineau | June 24, 2008 at 11:46 am | 855 views | 5 comments

In the face of an impending no-confidence vote, weeks of anti-government street protests, and widespread accusations of corruption, Thailand's prime minister Samak Sundaravej has defiantly refused to resign.

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Thailand's prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, is resisting pressure to resign just four months after taking power as MPs begin to debate a no-confidence motion in his leadership.

Politicians in the parliament's lower house are to vote on the measure on Tuesday after four weeks of street protests by Thais calling for the government to resign.

Sirichok Sopa, an executive of Thailand's Democrat party which filed the motion, told Al Jazeera the opposition party wanted to tell the Thai people that the government was mismanaging the economy.

"We're hoping the government will answer the questions with clarity," he said.

Critics accuse Samak of being a proxy of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, who was removed from power in a 2006 coup amid allegations of corruption and abuse of power

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Jarrett Martineau

at 12:08 on June 24th, 2008

news wanted:

This story would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence.

gerrypopplestone

at 03:17 on June 25th, 2008

Things are quiet on the streets at present as protesters go to work during the day and wait for the results of today's censure debate against the government.

Gerry

queengemini

at 07:22 on June 25th, 2008

I found that most of the protesters were surprisingly in jovial moods and were not at all agressive. There were even a few young children wearing yellow flags around their heads. All the necessary facilities are available and that even includes a massage therapist.

queengemini has contributed a photo to this story.

azzayindia

at 07:33 on June 25th, 2008

good stuff:

Jarrett Martineau, I like this story. It's good stuff.

ponpisut

at 10:15 on July 18th, 2008

For almost 2 months the protesters have been fighting. It might not be the best way to end the dirty politics, but what else can we do. Does democracy just mean a chance to vote once in 4 years for the people? There must be a real change for a better democracy soon, I hope.

ponpisut has contributed a photo to this story.