Saturday was festive, with demonstrators cheering and celebrating what they viewed as a victory over the police. -- REUTERS
BANGKOK - THEY looked remarkably relaxed for a group that had clashed with riot police just one day earlier.
The thousands of Thai demonstrators who ran Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej out of his compound looked like a crowd at a folk concert on Saturday, singing, clapping and smiling on the grounds of the Government House, the seat of Thailand's government.
'It's like a carnival,' said Ms Kit Amorn, 55, who owns a Bangkok chemical company.
As the demonstrators frolicked in the sun, Mr Samak repeated his vow that he would not resign. But as the protests entered their fifth day, nobody in the crowd seemed to believe him.
'Sooner or later, he'll have to resign,' Ms Amorn said.
She and most other members of the People's Alliance for Democracy are drawn from Bangkok's affluent, educated class and believe Mr Samak is too closely tied to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup and fled to exile in Britain to escape trial for corruption charges.
The crowd included stockbrokers, financial analysts and entrepreneurs, many carrying expensive cameras and mobile phones.
And nearly all of them wore yellow to honour Thailand's wildly popular king, Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Although they have been camped out in the compound for five days, the grounds of the Government House remained relatively orderly, with demonstrators sweeping up trash and hosing down sidewalks.
While some people have been relieving themselves outside, portable toilets have been trucked in, and makeshift showers erected on nearby sidewalks.
Protest organisers distributed bananas, apples, boiled eggs, sticky rice and various Thai dishes. They even passed out free underwear to people who did not have a change of clothes.
On Friday, after police muscled their way into the compound to deliver an eviction order, the alliance fought police in running street battles, charging, punching and hitting officers with sticks.
They laid siege to city police headquarters, demanding the surrender of officers they accused of violence. As they pressed against the gates, police fired tear gas to disperse them.
Saturday was festive, with demonstrators cheering and celebrating what they viewed as a victory over the police. But helmets were stacked on the barricades, just in case the police returned.
'We went after the police, and I was in the second row. I was tear gassed,' said a demonstrator named Danai, a 49-year-old marketing consultant from Bangkok.
The People's Alliance for Democracy says Western-style democracy has allowed corruption to flourish and has proposed a new government blueprint that would make parliament a mostly appointed body with only 30 per cent of lawmakers elected.
The protesters view their actions as the very essence of democracy, even though they are seeking to remove a democratically elected leader.
Most of the demonstrators do not regard Mr Samak's election as legitimate and say Thaksin's supporters paid off poor people from the countryside, with a limited understanding of politics, to vote for Mr Samak.
'This is democracy in action,' said Ms Amorn. 'We have come together to show our people power. This scene may seem strange to Westerners, but it's normal to us.' -- AP
