A student leader from Prince of Songkhla University’s Pattani campus reads out a statement yesterday calling for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s resignation. The student said he would join a mass rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok on Sunday to

The petition calling for Thaksin's resignation at www.petition49.org includes signatures from Thai students in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan.

It says the decision to dissolve Parliament will not solve the political crisis and refers to numerous incidences of alleged corruption and wrongdoing by Thaksin.

"Those who sign the petition are of the opinion that Thaksin has adopted policies that could harm the country's economy in the long term. His government's short-term policies to stimulate the economy have caused a skyrocketing of public and family debts," it says.

Thaksin's government has allowed widespread corruption among its inner circle to go unchecked, damaging the competitiveness of the private sector, it adds. The petition also condemns the House dissolution called by Thaksin on February 24, saying the problems the country faces are of Thaksin's making, not the Parliament.

As of yesterday evening, more than 200 Thai students abroad, mainly PhD students in the US and Europe, had signed the petition.

They include students at the London School of Economy, Harvard University in the US and Cambridge in the UK.

Those who set up the website set today as the deadline to sign the petition. It will be sent to a Thai newspaper tomorrow.

Meanwhile, on Sunday some 100 Thais staged a peaceful protest calling for Thaksin's resignation, in front of the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles.

They wore white T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like "Thaksin Get Out" and called themselves "The People's Alliance for Thai Democracy in the US".

The protest lasted only an hour because the group did not have official permission, a protester told ThaitownUSANews, an online newspaper for Thais in LA.

Marisa Chimprabha

The Nation