Protests in Thailand increase pressure on government

(Vatican Radio) Protesters seeking to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra surrounded Thai government headquarters on Monday in response to police efforts to clear them from the streets, as farmers besieged her temporary office to demand payment for rice.

Thailand has been in crisis since November, when Bangkok's middle class and the royalist establishment started a protest aimed at eradicating the influence of Yingluck's brother Thaksin, a populist former premier ousted by the army in 2006 who is seen as the power behind her government.

Dr. Virachai Techavijit, chairman of the Catholic Business Executives Group in Thailand, told us today’s protests have put more pressure on the government. “Now, with hundreds of thousands of farmers – who used to be the current government’s strong grass roots on the street... This can make the pressure a little more serious.”

He said real pressure is likely to come if the Constitutional Court rules against the government in a number of ongoing corruption cases. The court is also likely to rule on whether the government properly declared a state of emergency that was imposed last month.

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Virachai Techavijit: