By Khettiya Jittapong
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravejwill not resign, a spokesman said on Saturday as thousands ofprotesters besieged his office, vowing to stay until theyforced the government from power.
"It's impossible that Prime Minister Samak will resign,"said Kuthep Saikrajang, spokesman for the People Power Party(PPP) that leads a six-party coalition whose election inDecember was hoped to restore political stability two yearsafter a coup.
"The standpoint of our party is that the government willnot resign and there will be no house dissolution," Kuthepsaid, responding to a newspaper report that the country's armychief had urged Samak to dissolve parliament to end theprotests.
Asked how he planned to deal with the demonstrators, Samak,who met some of the 19 police officers injured in Friday'sscuffles with the marchers, told reporters to wait for hisweekly radio and television address on Sunday.
Samak, a firebrand politician who won millions of ruralvotes on a pledge to revive the populist policies of oustedprime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, triggered coup fears lastmonth when he vowed to smash the four-week campaign.
Samak, 73, later backed off when the police and militarymade it clear they had no stomach for a fight.
On Saturday, thousands of mainly middle-class Bangkokresidents were camped outside the ornate iron fence surroundingGovernment House after they were allowed to pass through linesof riot police on Friday to avoid violence.
The atmosphere was jovial with the crowd clapping andcheering speakers on a hastily erected stage as police lookedon. Vendors were doing a brisk trade in umbrellas and fans aspeople sought relief from the sun.
"I don't know what will happen in the next one or two days,but our mission is still the same," said retired generalChamlong Srimuang, a co-leader of the People's Alliance forDemocracy (PAD) comprising academics, royalists andbusinessmen.
"We came here to tell them to get out," said theshaven-headed ascetic Buddhist who helped lead the PAD's streetprotests that ended with the ouster of prime minister ThaksinShinawatra in a bloodless 2006 coup.
PARALYSED GOVERNMENT
With the election in December of an avowedly pro-Thaksingovernment, it was only a matter of time before the PAD renewedits crusade, which it paints as a life-and-death strugglebetween monarchists and republicans.
Friday's 25,000-strong march was largely peaceful andrelieved investors pushed up Thai shares by nearly 4 percent.
Nevertheless, the main index is still down 13 percent sincethe protests began on May 25, with foreign investors worriedabout the government's policy paralysis at a time of soaringinflation and stuttering economic growth.
"The situation will become more intense and should lead toa political change," Chulalongkorn University lecturer SompopManarungsan said, adding that Samak's position would becomeincreasingly untenable as the protests dragged on.
The Bangkok Post newspaper, citing an unnamed source, saidarmy chief Anupong Paochinda had urged Samak to dissolveparliament and call fresh elections only six months after thelast polls. Both men have not commented on their meeting.
Military leaders have repeatedly said they do not want getinvolved, perhaps mindful of unrest in 1992, when soldiersopened fire on pro-democracy marchers, killing dozens.
"If the military has to get involved, the cabinet needs toapprove it," Supreme Commander General Boonsrang Niumpradittold reporters, adding that the government would have todeclare a state of emergency to put troops on the streets.
