By Tim Johnston
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

BANGKOK, Nov. 24 -- Thousands of anti-government protesters surrounded Thailand's parliament building Monday, forcing the speaker of the House to cancel a planned session.

The protests, organized by the People's Alliance for Democracy, have paralyzed Thailand's political system for months. Movement leaders accuse the government of being a proxy for Thaksin Shinawatra, the controversial telecommunications billionaire and former prime minister who was removed from office in a military coup in 2006 amid allegations of corruption.

Protesters are trying to force the government to resign, but Somchai Wongsawat, the current prime minister and Thaksin's brother-in-law, said he has no intention of giving in to their demands.

The standoff has pitted the predominantly urban, middle-class supporters of the alliance against the government, which draws its votes from the rural poor. Many rural voters believe the alliance wants to disenfranchise them -- an impression that the group's policies have done little to dispel.

At least four people have been killed in incidents connected to the protests. The simmering violence has hurt the country's vital tourism sector, which accounts for more than 6 percent of its gross domestic product.

Despite the fact that protest organizers billed Monday's event as the "final mass rally" to oust "the killer government," few people expect a resolution anytime soon.

At Monday's demonstration, most protesters were dressed in yellow to reflect their loyalty to the king. They shook plastic hand-clappers to show their appreciation for the speeches and danced to a live band, giving the protest a carnival atmosphere.

But there was also a darker side. Despite the organizers' insistence that protesters would be unarmed, young men lurked on the fringes of the rally, carrying staffs, iron bars or slingshots.

The police, stung by criticism that they were responsible for the death of a young woman who was hit by a tear gas canister in a protest last month, kept a low profile, falling back and allowing the protesters to surround the parliament building.

Other protesters marched to police headquarters and to the finance ministry, but there were no reports of clashes.

Alliance leaders said they intend to continue their campaign and warned that the protests would intensify unless the government yields to their demands.