Thai PM orders end to anti-government protest

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej ordered thousands of riot police to remove an anti-government crowd occupying his office compound by the end of Wednesday, but protest leaders vowed to stay.

"The Prime Minister said it has to end today," Samak's chief spokesman Wichianchot Sukchotrat told reporters. "Thousands of police will be deployed to move the protesters out of the Government House."

Wichianchot said police would try to persuade the thousands of flag-waving demonstrators of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to leave the lawn of Government House, the nerve centre of the Thai administration, but would meet any violence with "decisive action".

A court also ordered the protesters to end their campaign and immediately clear surrounding streets they have blocked for two days in a bid to unseat the seven-month-old government.

But protest leaders defied the order.

"We respect the court's order, but we don't have enough time to move out and we will launch an appeal," said Samran Rodpetch, standing on a stage as demonstrators reinforced makeshift barricades at the site to stop the police.

After the court order, Interior Minister Kowit Wattana told state broadcaster NBT "After the court injunction, police will need to enforce this order," and told the protesters to leave the compound immediately.

Private Thai television TPBS showed dozens of police trucks parked on streets near Government House and NBT reported police doctors and ambulances were on stand-by at police headquarters.

Earlier a court issued arrest warrants for nine PAD leaders, accusing them of inciting unrest and trying to overthrow the government, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The government also petitioned the Bangkok Civil Court on Wednesday for an injunction ordering the protesters to leave the Government House compound.

Two thousand police have taken up position in and around the compound, though the only confrontation was early on Wednesday when 15 people were injured in scuffles with police.

An opinion poll released on Wednesday showed a marked shift in the public mood against the PAD, whose 2005 protests against then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra led ultimately to his removal in a military coup the following year.

The Bangkok University survey suggested 73 percent of people in the capital disagreed with the three-month campaign by the group, which accuses the current elected coalition of being an illegitimate Thaksin proxy.

The PAD also proclaims itself a defender of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej against a supposed Thaksin plan to turn Thailand into a republic -- a charge vehemently denied by both Thaksin, now in exile in London, and the government.

After the warrants were issued, PAD heavyweight Chamlong Srimuang, a retired major-general and ascetic Buddhist who led a 1992 people power uprising against military rule, urged the demonstrators to stand fast.

"More people will join us tomorrow. Don't leave or we will lose. If we hold on, we will win in the next three to four days," he told the crowd at Government House.

Earlier, Chamlong told reporters: "They can't arrest us all. There aren't enough jails."

The stock market has fallen 23 percent since Chamlong and his allies launched their latest anti-government campaign, amid fears of everything from policy paralysis at a time of stuttering economic growth to bloodshed on the streets.

Tuesday's crossing of the line into violent protest helped send the baht to its lowest level against the dollar since November, and caused a switch from broadly sympathetic coverage in the domestic press to outright condemnation.

"The PAD's 'last whistle blow' is unjustified, unnecessary, provocative and illegal," the Bangkok Post said in an editorial.

"If the PAD really wants to bring down the government, it should do so through the parliament. That is the proper, democratic place to do it."

Army chief Anupong Paochinda has said he was not going to get involved and that crowd control was a matter for the police.

(Additional reporting by Chalathip Thirasoonthrakul and Ed Cropley)

(Writing by Nopporn Wong-Anan; editing by Darren Schuettler and Tim Pearce)