Civil unrest and growing opposition to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration have weighed on Thailand’s markets and exchange traded fund.
Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy premier who is leading the demonstrations, said that rallies against Shinawatra began a month ago against an amnesty for political offenses as far back as the 2006 coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the brother of the current Prime Minister, and have turned into a push to end “suffering under the rule of Thaksin and his people,” Bloomberg reports. [Tumbling Thai ETF Again Faces Political Problems]
“The protesters still lack the backing of forces with the willingness and ability to topple the government quickly,” Michael Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said in the article. “If disorder spreads, we will see how long those forces are willing to stand aside.”
Demonstrators occupied the finance ministry and protesters blocked access to the transport and energy ministries. Meanwhile, Yingluck has pledged that the government will not utilize violence to disperse protesters.
“If they have no ministries or officials to work for them, this government will crumble,” Suthep said in Bangkok, Bloomberg reports. “If nobody comes out to protest, we will become slaves of the Thaksin system forever.”
Foreign investors are rushing for the doors as the unrest escalates. Global funds pulled $209 million from Thai bonds and equities Monday, bringing November net outflows to $2.3 billion.