Special Report: Crisis in Thailand

    BANGKOK, March 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has made three rules for security officers to deal with demonstrators gathering at the Government House in Bangkok to pressure for his resignation, reported the Thai News Agency on Tuesday.

    Thaksin said while visiting Thailand's Northeast for his official mission and election campaign Tuesday morning that he has instructed the security forces to adhere to three rules when dealing with the demonstrators led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

    The rules are: not resorting to any weapon, exercising utmost restraint and observing leniency when keeping peace and order.

    The caretaker premier has faced a strong pressure from both the PAD and the three former opposition parties -- the Democrat, the Chart Thai and the Mahachon Party -- after a 73.3 billion Baht (about 1.9 billion U.S. dollars) sale of controlling stake in Shin Corporation, his family business and the nation's largest telecommunication firm, to Temasek Holdings, Singapore's state-owned telecommunication company, in late January despite his insistence that the business deal with no tax payment required was conducted legally under the Thai securities law.

    Tuesday morning tens of thousands of demonstrators marched peacefully toward the Government House, vowing to remain there until Thaksin resigns. Enditem