Thai Protesters Break Into Prime Minister's Office

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Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Thai protesters stormed Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's office compound and a state-run television station, meeting token police resistance as the government avoided violent clashes that may force its downfall.

``The government's patience has almost reached the breaking point,'' Samak told reporters after shifting his weekly cabinet meeting to a military office to dodge protesters. ``I can't allow those people on the street to overthrow my government.''

In power for about six months, Samak threatened to arrest leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy, an anti- government group spearheading today's protest that also blocked roads and broke into other government buildings. He called their demands ``unreasonable'' and said police are ready to remove protesters from his office complex.

The People's Alliance claims Samak runs the government at the behest of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and fled to London earlier this month to escape corruption charges. The military has pledged to stay on the sidelines as the protests take a toll on the economy, contributing to a 23.8 percent decline in the benchmark SET Index since they began May 25.

``This is all provocation today from the People's Alliance to generate an overreaction from the government,'' said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. ``If Samak doesn't react hastily and holds his ground, the protesters may become frustrated.''

Arrests Planned

The baht fell to the weakest in almost a year as the government said it was preparing to arrest those seeking to overthrow it. The protests are led by Sondhi Limthongkul, a former business associate who fell out with Thaksin in 2005 and then formed the People's Alliance.

Thailand's army ruled out staging a coup as Thai PBS channel reported several thousand protesters pushed through the gates to Samak's office and gathered outside the main buildings.

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