BANGKOK, March 14: Tens of thousands of protesters blockaded Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s office on Tuesday to demand he step down, as military leaders distanced themselves from his warnings of emergency rule if violence breaks out.

Some 70,000 students, union workers, teachers and activists marched from the royal palace to the gates of the Government House compound as the cabinet held its weekly meeting.

“We will be here until Thaksin quits. If police want roads to return to normal, tell the prime minister to resign,” said one of the protest leaders, Mr Thaksin’s former political mentor Chamlong Srimuang.

The prime minister also remained defiant, in a sign that both parties remain unwilling to forge a compromise that would end the damaging political stalemate.

“I was elected, so I will not surrender,” said the billionaire-turned-politician who was re-elected in a landslide just a year ago.

Mr Thaksin was not at Government House during the demonstration, but led the cabinet meeting by video conference from the rural northeast where he was campaigning ahead of April 2 snap elections.

The premier had threatened to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok if the protest turned violent, but later in the day military leaders said they would not support such a move.

“That would only hurt the country’s image, and the army does not agree with the idea of emergency rule,” army commander General Sonthi Boonyaratglin told reporters.

Despite the fears of confrontation, the marchers made a peaceful, even festive, procession through central Bangkok before descending on the ornate Government House building where they blocked off most of the entry points.

The crowd began to disperse as the noontime sun sent temperatures soaring, leaving a few thousand camping outside the gates, but the numbers swelled again in the evening to about 35,000, according to Special Branch police.

Hundreds of ascetic monks meditated on the pavement facing the building’s landscaped grounds.

“As Thaksin is hard-faced and insists on staying, so we will stay further as well,” another protest organiser Sondhi Limthongkul said in the late evening. —AFP