Thai protesters defy court order to vacate PM office compound

Bangkok: Thai protesters continued to occupy the compound of the prime minister's office on Thursday, defying a court order to end their protest.

Dozens of members of the People's Alliance for Democracy guarded the Government House compound, locking gates and building makeshift barriers to withstand any police raid.

The demonstrators have vowed to continue their protest until the government resigns.

Chamlong Srimuang, one of the top alliance leaders, said the protesters are doing nothing wrong.

"We are staging a protest because the government has made too many mistakes and has no legitimacy to run the country," he said.

On Thursday, there were about 5,000 protesters inside the grounds and another 5,000 outside the gates, though the overall total has ranged up to 30,000 since protesters swarmed the compound on Tuesday.

Police have said they will not use force to break up the riot, and have asked the protestors to leave peacefully.

The Bangkok Civil Court issued a ruling on Wednesday ordering the alliance to leave the government compound and stop blocking public streets, Deputy Police Chief Lt. Gen. Jongrak Chutanont said.

Arrest warrants were also issued for nine leaders of the right-wing protest group.

But the move only ignited the protesters, with a couple thousand additional people pouring in to join the demonstration.

Alliance leaders said the group planned to appeal the court order to vacate the government compound, arguing they have a legal right to remain.