Sepcial Report: Crisis in Thailand

    BANGKOK, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Anti-Thaksin demonstrators led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) gave an ultimatum Tuesday evening that caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra resigns within 48 hours, or faces a decisive action to be ousted of office.

    Sondhi Limthongkul, local media mogul turned arch critic against Thaksin, announced the ultimatum after a meeting of the PAD's core members.

    "We'll give Thaksin this last chance to step down to pave the way for the country's second political reform. If he still insiststo stay on, we'll take a further decisive action to oust him," Sondhi was quoted by the Thai News Agency on Wednesday as saying.

    Suriyasai Katasila, a coordinator of the Anti-Thaksin coalition,stressed that the PAD had a resolution to call for the embattled premier to step down within 48 hours.

    "Unless Mr. Thaksin resign within 48 hours as demanded, we'll unveil a clear measure for a further major movement at 10:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on March 23," he said.

    "For this moment, we'll assign a working group to gather opinions from academics and experienced persons toward ways to break the current political impasse so that they will be used to wrap up for a common approach in our next mass rally planned on March 25," he said.

    Earlier, Maj. Gen. Chamlong Srimuan, one of five core members of the PAD, invited members of the public to sign in a petition to be submitted to His Majesty the King, requesting the revered monarch to replace Thaksin with a new caretaker prime minister.

    When rallying in Silom area and at the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Tuesday morning, the PAD's core members also invited members of the public to take part in the planned mass rally at Makhawan Bridge on March 25, from 02:00 p.m. (0700 GMT) local time onward, to show a strong people's power to force embattled Thaksin to resign.

    Suriyasai conceded that Chamlong raised the possibility of appealing for the royally appointed premier for discussion at the meeting. But it was not a main topic of the discussion.

    "We still stand firm to press for the resignation of Mr. Thaksin and the second political reform," he said.

    The anti-Thaksin demonstrators plan to rally at the National Stadium here on Wednesday before moving to the headquarters of the Election Commission of Thailand (EC).

    They have resorted to the new strategy of launching a roving campaign at many downtown areas since earlier this week to invite more people to join the PAD.

    Meanwhile, a group of people calling themselves the "network ofpeople who love peace", comprising of Bangkok residents and representatives of the private sector, demonstrated at the capital' s downtown areas as well on Tuesday, calling for the anti-Thaksin groups to stop their rallies while inviting eligible voters to turn out for the early poll on April 2 to help determinethe country's political direction within the democratic framework.

    The network is a newly-formed one, separating from pro-Thaksin groups led by the "Caravan of the Poor", which have staged their rallies at Chatuchak Park and at some other areas in the city. Enditem