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BANGKOK - Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej accused protesters who stormed the seat of government on Tuesday of trying to provoke bloodshed and instigate another military coup.
"They want a spark," he said, referring to a coalition of anti-government groups who led thousands of people onto the streets of Bangkok Tuesday, seized a state-run television station and surrounded key government offices.
"They want bloodshed in the country, they want the military to come out and stage a coup again," he said at a press conference.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has been protesting since May, claims Samak is running the country on behalf of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is barred from holding office.
"My feeling is it's a group of people, five or six people, they don't like the former prime minister, they don't like me, and up to now they want to overthrow the government, (which is) illegal," Samak said.
He reminded people that he was comfortably elected in polls last December which returned democracy to Thailand, and said he will seek arrest warrants for at least five of the key protest leaders.
"The warrant has to come from the judge," he said. "We have tape and video evidence."
Despite earlier saying police would use "all means" to clear the streets, Samak told reporters that his approach would be "soft and gentle".
Police will surround Government House, he said, and allow no one to enter until all the protesters have left.
"I have so many ways and means to get rid of this thing, but I think the country has enough problems," he said.
"Soft and gentle... (we will) ask them to come out, no weapons," he said.
Deputy national police spokesman Major General Surapol Tuanthong said they had been gathering evidence against five PAD leaders since May 25, and would seek arrest warrants on charges of illegal assembly and inciting unrest.
"Police will seek arrest warrants on five leaders tomorrow," he said.
- AFP/ir
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