Thailand's middle classes lead unlikely protest - against democracy

As the crowds of angry demonstrators beseiged the parliament, it looked as if a classic people's revolution was underway.

With the scent of police teargas in his nostrils and screams of protest ringing in his ears, Thailand's embattled prime minister Somchai Wongsawat fled the building, vaulted over a fence and clambered into a waiting helicopter to escape the crowds who had besieged all four exits.

Yet while it might have evoked memories of the fall of Saigon in 1975, last week's violent protest in Bangkok was not the dawn of a new order, but an attempt to restore an old one. Welcome to the Yellow Revolution - where the chosen hue represents the colours of the Thai king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, and where the clamor is for less democracy, not more.

"We cannot accept this robber government, we want to protect this nation and royalty. This government is cheating everything from this land, and they want to destroy the monarchy," said Praek, a computer technician stood among the sea of yellow-clad demonstrators outside the parliament.