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...occupation of Don Muang airport by 3,000 members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in the early hours of Nov. 27 was an attempt to prevent government ministers from flying to the northern city of Chiang Mai to attend a cabinet meeting called by embattled Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat at his home...
...That attempt to further disrupt Thailand's 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...
...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...
...Thaksin, who was ousted in a September 2006 bloodless coup, has been convicted in a Thai court of conflict of interest over a land deal he approved while prime minister and was sentenced in absentia last month to two years in jail. The former prime minister, who insists that he is innocent and that the courts are under the control of his enemies, has fled Thailand and was last reported to be in Dubai...
...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...