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 Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday he would fully exercise his authority by all means to bring fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to justice in Thailand. A group of Thai officials would be dispatched to Dubai next week to inform officials about the Thai Government's concern, as Thaksin regularly used the Gulf state as a base to phone in and provoke his red shirted supporters, he said.  Representatives of the Attorney-General's Office were talking with their counterparts in Hong Kong to conclude an extradition treaty, enabling the Government to detain Thaksin if he appeared in the territory, he said. "I speak frankly, this is a struggle between two ideologies. We want democracy, monarchy and constitution but they [Thaksin's group] don't," Kasit told a meeting of the ruling Democrat Party.

Tens of thousands of anti  Government protesters sang and danced through the weekend outside Thailand's main Government complex, cheering on ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and offering the nation's new leaders -- and others in Asia -- a jarring reminder of the political risks accompanying the region's sharp economic decline. Local businesswoman Darunee Kritboonyalai, a founding shareholder of a Thai iced-tea brand and an active supporter of Mr. Thaksin, said the protests against Thailand's Government could grow as the economy worsens. "We're just part of a global situation, true. But this Government doesn't know how to handle it properly," she said.

Tens of thousands of anti  Government protesters sang and danced through the weekend outside Thailand's main Government complex, cheering on ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and offering the nation's new leaders -- and others in Asia -- a jarring reminder of the political risks accompanying the region's sharp economic decline. Local businesswoman Darunee Kritboonyalai, a founding shareholder of a Thai iced-tea brand and an active supporter of Mr. Thaksin, said the protests against Thailand's Government could grow as the economy worsens. "We're just part of a global situation, true. But this Government doesn't know how to handle it properly," she said.

Tens of thousands of anti  Government protesters sang and danced through the weekend outside Thailand's main Government complex, cheering on ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and offering the nation's new leaders -- and others in Asia -- a jarring reminder of the political risks accompanying the region's sharp economic decline. Local businesswoman Darunee Kritboonyalai, a founding shareholder of a Thai iced-tea brand and an active supporter of Mr. Thaksin, said the protests against Thailand's Government could grow as the economy worsens. "We're just part of a global situation, true. But this Government doesn't know how to handle it properly," she said.

Tens of thousands of anti  Government protesters sang and danced through the weekend outside Thailand's main Government complex, cheering on ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and offering the nation's new leaders -- and others in Asia -- a jarring reminder of the political risks accompanying the region's sharp economic decline. Local businesswoman Darunee Kritboonyalai, a founding shareholder of a Thai iced-tea brand and an active supporter of Mr. Thaksin, said the protests against Thailand's Government could grow as the economy worsens. "We're just part of a global situation, true. But this Government doesn't know how to handle it properly," she said.