Thai police seal off govt HQ, brace for march

By Pracha Hariraksapitak

BANGKOK, June 20 (Reuters) - Thousands of Thai police backed by water cannon and tear gas sealed off the prime minister's office on Friday to repel protesters whose four-week drive to oust the government has stoked fears of another coup.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a motley collection of businessmen, academics and royalists united by their hatred of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, say hundreds of thousands should join their "D-Day" assault on Government House.

Police expect only 14,000 demonstrators to turn up, but say they are ready if need be to use force against the marchers, most of whom are middle-class Bangkok residents who view the government elected in December as an illegitimate Thaksin proxy.

Metropolitan police chief Lieutenant-General Aswin Kwanmuang urged leaders of the PAD, whose 2005 campaign against Thaksin ultimately led to his removal in a coup in 2006, to step back from their stated aim to lay siege to Government House.

"We urge the PAD not to damage the country further. Political problems should be solved in parliament, not on the street," he told reporters after a tour of the empty streets around the rococo building.

At least eight barricades of crash barriers and prison trucks, manned by police drafted in from all over the country, prevented all access to the government compound, which sits in the heart of Bangkok's leafy "Old Quarter".

Despite the PAD's claims to be staging a peaceful rally, dozens of its security guards have armed themselves with baseball bats, plastic helmets and wooden shields, some emblazoned with pictures of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The stock market has fallen more than 13 percent since it started its campaign on May 25, with investors worried about political tension at a time of stuttering economic growth and soaring inflation.

A stand-off last month with riot police even triggered rumours of a coup less than two years after the army's removal of Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire whose political might threatened the traditional elites whose power was centred on the palace.

Army chief Anupong Paochinda, a member of the military council that ousted Thaksin, insisted the army would not get involved, perhaps mindful of unrest in 1992, when soldiers opened fire on pro-democracy demonstrators, killing dozens.

"Politics must be resolved by political means," Anupong said.

So far, the PAD campaign has only managed to muster crowds of a few thousand.

However, union leaders at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, the main state power provider, said this week their members would take leave to join the rally, suggesting its numbers may be higher. (Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by David Fogarty)