Protests escalate in Thailand

(Vatican Radio) Scores of people took to the streets in Bangkok for a second day on Tuesday, calling for the overthrow of Thailand’s prime minister whose government they accuse of corruption.
Demonstrators surrounded government buildings, and major intersections were blocked.
Their claim is that the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is corrupt, and that her party uses money to influence voters and cement its power.
Protestors say their aim is to force the prime minister to step down, and also to prevent the upcoming elections, scheduled for 2 February, from taking place.
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Chairman of the Catholic Business Executives group in Bangkok, Dr Virachai Techavijit said the protests were “unprecedented.”
“It’s not an ordinary protest,” he said, explaining that elderly, as well as families with children, are among the protestors.
The fight, he said, is not “against the government”: it is the “fight against corruption.”
Techavijit said corruption in Thailand has reached a level of becoming socially acceptable, and is being “implanted in the hearts and minds of the young generation.”
“This is what we are fighting against.”
Listen to Vatican Radio’s interview with Dr Virachai Techavijit: