/asia

Thai PM threatens forces on protesters

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's prime minister has warned he may send in police and soldiers to disperse several hundred people who have been staging an around-the-clock protest in Bangkok for the past six days.

Ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra, pictured here this week, has been the subject of protests in Thailand.

The Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) is protesting proposed changed to Thailand's constitution which would protect former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his followers from corruption charges.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej issued his warning on government television Saturday, saying the protest must stop immediately and calling it a "make or break point."

PAD officials have rejected the warning and vowed to continue their demonstration which has not stopped since it began last Sunday.

It was a series of rallies by PAD in 2006 that led up to a military coup that toppled Prime Minister Thaksin, a wealthy telecommunications tycoon who now lives in exile.

Thaksin's party, the People Power Party (PPP), is the largest member of the current coalition government.