BANGKOK: Confounding speculation, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej yesterday came out talking tough and refusing to resign, slamming the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement as a 'doomsday cult'.

In a move obviously aimed at outflanking the PAD, he summoned his Cabinet for an emergency session in which it decided to hold a national referendum to give ordinary Thais a say in whether the government should go or stay.

'Don't even think I am going to quit,' Mr Samak said in a 50-minute national radio address in the morning. 'I cannot leave because under a democratic system no one group can force me to resign.

'These people want the whole Samak government to quit. But how can I do that when the entire world is watching us? It would embarrass the nation to do such a thing.'

He added: 'I will not quit. I will not dissolve Parliament. I will stay to protect democracy and the monarchy.'

The PAD - a hotchpotch of royalists, businessmen and activists - wants to roll back many of Thailand's democratic gains by creating a new Parliament, only 30 per cent of which would be elected.

'The PAD is like a radical doomsday cult,' Mr Samak said. 'The PAD is an illegal group that has seized the Government House and declared their victory. How can that be correct? The country cannot survive without law and order. Otherwise it's a state of anarchy.'

The Premier was reported to have had an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Wednesday night, provoking speculation that he may be asked to resign by the monarch. While careful to remain above politics, the King is without question Thailand's highest moral authority.

But it seems possible that the palace approved the idea of going back to the people with a referendum.

Minister of Culture Somsak Kiatsuranond said that the poll would focus on one question - whether voters want the government to stay in power.

If the referendum is held and the government wins the people's support, it will amount to giving Mr Samak a new mandate and a legal and constitutional upper hand - and throw the ball back to the PAD's court, potentially isolating it.

But initial reaction to the planned referendum was not favourable, with PAD co-leader Somsak Kosaisuk saying it would be a waste of taxpayers' money.

The labour union leader told The Straits Times: 'Samak is stubborn and thick-skinned and refuses to see our point of view. He is trying to buy time.'

Separately, Senate President Prasobsuk Boondej said he did not believe a vote, even a rushed one, would end the crisis. 'The current situation needs an immediate solution to defuse it. We can't afford to wait for the referendum law to pass,' he was quoted as saying.

As the main protagonists in the drama continue to speak out, the real issue is emerging - Thailand is in the midst of a class struggle that pits the old feudal order against an emerging democracy unwittingly catalysed by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's cultivation of his grassroots power base, especially among rural poor in the north and north-east.

This was clearly evident in a Bangkok Post interview with PAD co-leader Sondhi Limthongkul published on Wednesday. He said people in the 'ruling class' - the backbone of his movement's support - do not accept Mr Samak.

Mr Sondhi has also told foreign journalists that at least half of his supporters were 'well-off people' and proudly referred to several 'millionaires'.

Meanwhile life in Bangkok outside the area under Government House remained normal yesterday, although schools are shut until Monday. Hat Yai airport, closed for two days by PAD protesters, also resumed operations yesterday.

In Washington, the White House said it was closely watching the situation in Thailand, urging all sides to refrain from violence, and called for the emergency decree declared on Tuesday to be limited in scope and duration.

nirmal@sph.com.sg