News Manager
Milforums News Bot
By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Orathai Sriring BANGKOK (Reuters) - Protesters trying to topple Thailand's prime minister marched in Bangkok again on Thursday, testing support for a planned "shutdown" of the capital next week, and a survey showed consumer confidence slumped last month because of the crisis. Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has called an election for February 2 but the protesters, aware she would probably win on the back of support in the rural north and northeast, want her to step down and be replaced by an appointed "people's council" to push through electoral reforms. The protests took off in November when the government tried to force through a political amnesty bill that would have let former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, return from self-exile without serving jail time for corruption. On Thursday, the protesters marched from their camp at Democracy Monument in the historic quarter, drumming up support for Monday when they plan to blockade main roads and prevent government ministries from functioning.More...