{Thousands of Thai protesters have massed outside four ministries, a major government office complex and more than a dozen provincial halls in an escalation of their efforts to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.}
The Department of Special Investigation [DSI] was evacuated on Wednesday as about 2,000 protesters gathered outside, rallying against the prime minister and her influential brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Hundreds of demonstrators also gathered in front of the ministries of labour, energy, health and commerce in Bangkok, along with local government offices in 19 provinces, according to a senior Interior Ministry official.
“We are very upbeat and I think we will win in a few days,” protest leader and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters, calling for the creation of an unelected administration to run the country.
“If we demolish the Thaksin regime… we will set up a people’s council, which will come from people from every sector,” he said. “Then we will let the people’s council pick good people to be the prime minister and ministers.”
Anti-government protesters chanted abuse at the DSI as scores of riot police scrambled to put on helmets and hold up shields, with crowds pushing against a low fence.
The DSI, located in a complex of key government offices, recently indicted Thaugsuban for his alleged role in the deaths of more than 90 people in a 2010 military crackdown targeting supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra.
Aljazeera
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