Police use tear gas on protesters

Thai police fired tear gas at thousands of right-wing protesters besieging their headquarters, and demonstrators outside the capital disrupted air and rail service in a growing campaign to unseat the prime minister.

Saying that Western-style democracy has allowed corruption to flourish, the protesters have said they hope to repeat their success of two years ago, when they helped topple then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej insisted that he would not step down and may declare a state of emergency if rioting worsened. Protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy settled in for a fourth night occupying the grounds housing his offices.