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| Thailand protests: More ministries surrounded | Thailand protests: More ministries surrounded |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Protesters in Thailand have surrounded several more government ministries, as street demonstrations continue in Bangkok. | |
| The protesters want Yingluck Shinawatra's government to resign, saying it is controlled by her brother - ousted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. | The protesters want Yingluck Shinawatra's government to resign, saying it is controlled by her brother - ousted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. |
| After a huge rally on Sunday, they marched to several Bangkok locations. | After a huge rally on Sunday, they marched to several Bangkok locations. |
| Late on Monday, Ms Yingluck invoked special powers allowing officials to impose curfews and seal roads. | Late on Monday, Ms Yingluck invoked special powers allowing officials to impose curfews and seal roads. |
| The protests have been triggered by a controversial political amnesty bill. | The protests have been triggered by a controversial political amnesty bill. |
| The demonstrators say the legislation - which failed in the Senate - would have allowed Mr Thaksin to return to Thailand without serving a jail sentence for corruption. | The demonstrators say the legislation - which failed in the Senate - would have allowed Mr Thaksin to return to Thailand without serving a jail sentence for corruption. |
| Thailand has been bitterly divided since Mr Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and the proposal re-ignited simmering political tensions. | Thailand has been bitterly divided since Mr Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and the proposal re-ignited simmering political tensions. |
| 'Cut the power' | 'Cut the power' |
| Groups of protesters, who are being led by former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, camped out at the foreign and finance ministries overnight. | Groups of protesters, who are being led by former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, camped out at the foreign and finance ministries overnight. |
| On Tuesday, they surrounded the interior, tourism, transport and agriculture ministries. | On Tuesday, they surrounded the interior, tourism, transport and agriculture ministries. |
| There were around 1,000 protesters gathered outside both the finance and interior ministries, blowing whistles and chanting "get out!", reports said. | |
| "We have to leave because they [the protesters] will cut the utilities," Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak told AFP news agency. | |
| Akanat Promphan, a protest spokesman, said: "We are occupying the finance ministry in a non-violent and peaceful way, so our supporters around the country can do the same and occupy all government offices." | |
| "Tomorrow there will be a nationwide movement," he added. | |
| However Thida Thavornseth, a leader of the "red shirts", who support Mr Thaksin, told AFP news agency: "[Mr] Suthep is not trying to throw out the government... he wants to throw out democracy and replace it with an ultra-royalist administration." | |
| The opposition Democrat Party has also started a censure motion in parliament against the government, over its alleged misuse of the budget. | The opposition Democrat Party has also started a censure motion in parliament against the government, over its alleged misuse of the budget. |
| The motion highlights an expensive rice subsidy scheme launched by the government after it took office. | |
| Under the scheme, the government bought rice directly from farmers, paying more than the market rate. India and Vietnam increased their share of global rice exports as a result, overtaking Thailand as the world's largest rice exporter. | |
| The government is expected to defeat the censure motion, since the ruling Pheu Thai party has a majority in parliament. | |
| But, with a timid and poorly-trained police force, it is not clear how the government can reassert its authority, in a city where a sizeable part of the population say they have lost all faith in their democracy, the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok reports. | |
| 'Mob rule' | |
| The protests are the biggest to hit Thailand since the violence of 2010, when "red-shirt" opponents of the then Democratic Party government occupied key parts of the capital. | The protests are the biggest to hit Thailand since the violence of 2010, when "red-shirt" opponents of the then Democratic Party government occupied key parts of the capital. |
| More than 90 people, mostly civilian protesters, died over the course of the two-month sit-in. | More than 90 people, mostly civilian protesters, died over the course of the two-month sit-in. |
| A government led by Ms Yingluck and the ruling Pheu Thai Party was subsequently elected and since then Thailand has remained relatively politically stable. | A government led by Ms Yingluck and the ruling Pheu Thai Party was subsequently elected and since then Thailand has remained relatively politically stable. |
| But the opposition accuse Mr Thaksin of running the government from self-imposed exile overseas, and the now-shelved amnesty bill has served as a spark for renewed protests. | But the opposition accuse Mr Thaksin of running the government from self-imposed exile overseas, and the now-shelved amnesty bill has served as a spark for renewed protests. |
| Ms Yingluck invoked the Internal Security Act late on Monday. But she said on Tuesday the government would not use violence to end the protests. | Ms Yingluck invoked the Internal Security Act late on Monday. But she said on Tuesday the government would not use violence to end the protests. |
| "Everybody must obey the law and not use mob rule to upstage the rule of law," she told reporters. | "Everybody must obey the law and not use mob rule to upstage the rule of law," she told reporters. |
| "If we can talk, I believe the country will return to normal," she added. |