Government offices seized by protesters, mobile Cabinet meeting in Thai South postponed

BANGKOK, November 25 (TNA) - Anti-government demonstrators seized at least two government offices in Bangkok on Monday afternoon, while the government announced to postpone the next mobile Cabinet meeting, earlier set to be held in the southern Songkhla Province from November 29-30, citing a more important task of assisting flood victims in the Thai South. The anti-government demonstrators first seized the Bureau of the Budget, located in the same compound with the Ministry of Finance. Suthep Thaugsuban, the leader of the anti-government demonstrators and a former MP of Thailand's main opposition Democrat Party, later announced that the protesters would spend overnight at the Bureau of the Budget, threatening that electricity and water supplies would be cut. Suthep, who is also a former Democrat deputy prime minister, vowed to topple the "Thaksin regime" within three days, saying if the coalition government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is the youngest sister of exiled ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, did not surrender, the protesters would seize other ministries on November 26. Suthep assigned a Democrat Party member, Panich Vikitsreth, to lead another group of protesters to storm and seized the Public Relations Department office, located near the Bureau of the Budget. The demonstrators also announced to spend overnight there. Earlier in the day, the Democrat Party-led anti-government demonstrators split into groups and marched to 13 locations in the capital, including television stations, military and police headquarters, most of them later returned to their main protesting site at the Democracy Monument on Bangkok's Rajadamnoen Avenue. Suthep has organised the mass rally, aimed at “toppling the Yingluck government and uprooting the "Thaksin regime” since October 31. Meanwhile, the government decided to reschedule the next mobile Cabinet meeting in Songkhla, from later this week to a new date to be later announced, citing its more important task of assisting affected people in several southern flood-hit areas. Premier Yingluck said the anti-government demonstrators had announced to stage a peaceful protest and not to invade government offices, urging them to turn to a negotiation and allow a no-confidence debate in a House session, set from November 26-28, to probe her government instead. The prime minister suggested that all parties avoid any impact on the overall Thai economy, cautioning that the seizure of government offices could affect international tourists’ confidence during the ongoing high season.#END