(Recasts with protest at foreign ministry)
By Chalathip Thirasoonthrakul
BANGKOK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Thai protesters marched on the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday to demand the country's top diplomat quit as their anti-government street campaign dragged on for a second day.
More than 1,000 red-shirted supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra waved banners and shouted abuse at Foreign Minister Kasit Piromyas, whom they accuse of helping to remove a pro-Thaksin government last year.
The street campaign, which began on Tuesday when protesters marched on the seat of government in Bangkok, is aimed at embarrassing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on the eve of a summit of 10 Southeast Asian leaders this weekend.
"We are here to tell Mr. Kasit to quit unconditionally as foreign minister," Shinawatra Haboonpad, a leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), told the crowd outside the ministry's gates guarded by hundreds of riot police.
Kasit was a regular speaker at last year's rallies by the royalist, yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which played a key role in the political unrest that led to Thaksin's removal in a 2006 coup.
The PAD later marched against a pro-Thaksin government elected in late 2007, which the courts forced out of power last year on charges of vote fraud.
After joining Abhisit's government, Kasit was criticised for defending the PAD's seizure of Bangkok's main airports late last year which disrupted tourism and trade.
"He is a terrorist guilty of treason," Shinawatra said.
Kasit, who was on a diplomatic visit to Vietnam on Wednesday, has promised to quit if charged for his PAD activities.
TROUBLED ECONOMY
The UDD have also laid siege to Government House, but pledged not to storm the compound in old Bangkok which was occupied for three months last year by the PAD.
They allowed Abhisit and other ministers to enter their Government House offices on Wednesday, but warned the protest could drag on if their demands for new elections and a review of a 2007 military-drafted constitution are not met. "We planned to stay for a few days, but it will depend on the situation. We are exercising our right to hold peaceful and non-violent rallies," UDD leader Jatuporn Prompan told Reuters.
Abhisit, who leads a shaky coalition government after winning a parliamentary vote for prime minister in December, has rejected the UDD's demands while his government struggles to revive an export-driven economy hit by the global slowdown.
The Bank of Thailand cut its main interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.50 percent on Wednesday, the third big reduction in as many months, as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.
The protests had little impact on Thailand's stock market and baht, but analysts fear another protracted street campaign will distract policymakers at a critical time for the economy.
Analysts say the outlook for political stability remains bleak as long as there is no end to the rift between Bangkok's royalist military and business elite, who accuse Thaksin of corruption, and rural voters who loved his populist policies.