Protesters warned as Thailand’s political crisis intensifies

Thailand’s protracted political crisis intensified yesterday as Yingluck Shinawatra’s beleaguered administration warned people to stay away from anti-government protests, as it remained unclear who exactly was in charge of the southeast Asian nation.

The Thai crisis escalated after the country's top constitutional court ousted Ms Yingluck as premier, saying she had abused her power, while her "Red Shirt" supporters have condemned the move as a judicial coup. Rival supporters are staging sit-in protests at various places in and on the outskirts of Bangkok, raising fears of renewed violence in the protracted political impasse.

Ms Yingluck was ordered to step down on Wednesday over the illegal transfer in 2011 of her security chief, while another court has indicted her for negligence.

Jatuporn Prompan, head of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the "Red Shirt" backers of the democratically elected Ms Yingluck, said any attempt by the supreme court and the Senate to discuss "unlawful" demands for an interim government could steer Thailand toward a civil war.

Two anti-government protesters were injured in a suspected grenade blast on Saturday night outside the prime minister’s offices, which have been empty for weeks.

Support rally
Tens of thousands of angry Red Shirts are due in Bangkok today for a rally to support the Shinawatras, and call for the July election to take place. They burned effigies and mock coffins in various provinces to protest at the court's decision.

Anti-government protesters want to force out the government, postpone an election planned for July 20th, and rule by an interim council, ending what they see as the residual and corrupt influence of Ms Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist former prime minister who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and who now lives in exile in Dubai.

Poorest region
The Shinawatra power base is in the northeast, Thailand's poorest region and home to a third of its 66 million people.

Mr Thaksin’s popularity has undermined the influence of the traditional Bangkok-based power elite. He or his loyalists have won every election since 2001 and Ms Yingluck, his younger sister whom he has described as his “clone”, became prime minister after a 2011 election win. Ms Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party is still technically in control of the government and she has been replaced by her deputy prime minister, a staunch Thaksin loyalist.