Pro-Thaksin protesters ring Thai Parliament

A supporter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra waves a national flag during a protest outside of the Parliament in Bangkok yesterday. Thousands of Thai protesters calling for fresh elections blocked roads in front of parliament in Bangkok, forcing new premier Abhisit Vejjajiva to delay his maiden policy speech.Photo: AFP

Thousands of supporters of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ringed Thailand's Parliament on Monday, vowing to remain until the new government dissolves the legislature and calls general elections.
The demonstrators dared lawmakers to pass through their ranks to deliver a mandated speech outlining the government's key policies.
"If they (lawmakers) want to go in, they have to walk through us, including the prime minister," one of the protest leaders, Chatuporn Prompan, told reporters outside the Parliament compound where demonstrators spent the night.
The demonstration sparked fears of renewed political turbulence, which paralysed the previous government for months and climaxed with an eight-day seizure of Bangkok's airports. But the earlier protesters had been part of an anti-Thaksin alliance.
The latest round of protests could further batter the nearly moribund tourism industry, the country's no. 1 foreign currency earner, along with other economic sectors.