英语原文

Thai Protests Threaten New Round Of Instability

Thailand's prime minister faced the first major test of his leadership yesterday as some 80,000 protesters took to the streets of the capital Bangkok to demand the resignation of the government.

The largely peaceful protesters called for the resignation of Abhisit Vejjajiva, just five months after he took office. The protests also threaten a new round of instability in a country struggling to soften the impact of the financial crisis.

Mr Abhisit had seemed to be consolidating his power base. His coalition won seats in January by-elections and he secured a convincing victory in a recent confidence debate in parliament.

But analysts say the lacklustre performance of the parliamentary opposition had lulled the government into a sense of complacency and they had underestimated popular discontent.

Thailand's recent history is littered with the corpses of governments brought down by public protests. Mr Abhisit was ushered into power after months of demonstrations paralysed the previous administration.

One fear is the demonstrations could further poison the investment climate and hamper efforts to implement a three-year, $44bn (