Word: padded
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...leadership failed. By Thursday morning several ministers and other lawmakers from the ruling party had arrived at the Prime Minister's home in Chiang Mai. More than 100 police officers guarded the housing estate, where Somchai returned the day before after having been at an overseas conference when the PAD began its airport incursions...
...opposition alliance dramatically upped the ante earlier this week when they launched incursions into key Bangkok buildings. The protesters are demanding that Somchai resign and dissolve parliament. Their goal is to prevent Somchai's ruling People Power Party from rewriting the constitution to, in the words of the PAD, "whitewash the crimes" committed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra "and his cronies." Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law. The protesters fear that changes to the constitution will pave the way for Thaksin's return to power...
...Despite their failure to prevent the prime minister and his cabinet from meeting, PAD members said they would persist in their campaign to bring down the democratically elected government and prevent Thaksin's potential return. "We can't give into the devil," said Vimla Sarapai, a 58-year-old PAD supporter as she joined the demonstration at Bangkok's international airport. "We need change in Thailand. We need an Obama for Thailand," she said...
...PAD protesters have now occupied the prime minister's office compound in Bangkok, blocked access to the Parliament building, protested in front of various ministries and shut down two airports. The group cancelled plans to block the entrance to the military's airport in Bangkok this morning after it was told that ministers would not use it to reach Chiang Mai. Several ministers did, in fact, leave for Chiang Mai from that military airfield. Others, stuck in Bangkok's notorious traffic jams, missed the flight...
...Wednesday, in a televised press conference Army Commander in Chief General Anupong Paochinda recommended that Somchai resign and call a new election, and that the PAD end all its protests. Since Thailand abolished absolute monarchy in 1932, the army has launched 18 coups?and the words of generals tend to carry weight. But both the PAD and Somchai have rejected the army chief's call. In a televised speech late Wednesday night, Somchai said, "it is not important if I am Prime Minister. But it is important that I protect democracy." Meanwhile, the PAD has refused a court order...