Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy rallied in front of the Singaporean Embassy in Bangkok yesterday, demanding that Temasek Holdings pull out of the Shin Corp takeover deal or face a boycott of all Shin products and services.

Holding banners that read "Temasek, Get Out!" and "Thai-land's Not For Sale", about 50 activists shouted "Temasek, Get Out!" during the 20-minute pro-test in the early afternoon.

 A senior embassy official came out to receive the group's protest letter.

The letter, addressed to Singa-pore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, called on Temasek to nullify the Shin deal by tomorrow. 

If it failed to do this, the group would conclude that Singapore was interfering in Thailand's national security, the letter said.

Apart from controlling a mobile phone business, Shin Corp also has majority stakes in Shin Satellite, Thai AirAsia, iTV and CS Loxinfo.

"Many Thai citizens are closely scrutinising the prime minister's [Thaksin] actions for evidence that he violated the Thai Constitu-tion and many other laws and abused his power to benefit his family's multibillion-baht businesses," the letter said.

"The People's Alliance for Democracy will use every means to stop this purchase, starting with a boycott of every business owned by Shin Corp," it added.

On January 23, Temasek's subsidiaries, Cedar Holdings and Aspen Holdings, bought a 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp for Bt73.3 billion from the Shinawatra and Damapong families.

The two firms are making a public tender for 100 per cent of Shin's shares, offering Bt49.25 a share, as part of the takeover deal.

Tomorrow will be the last day of the tender offer and the deadline for Temasek to alter the terms of its public tender if it concludes there are incidents that could significantly damage the status and assets of Shin Corp.

Thaksin's popularity has sunk into uncharted territory following his family's sale of its stake in Shin.

 Many members of the public now believe he has been running the country to advance the interests of his family.

Thaksin has also been accused of selling national assets to Singapore because Shin Corp holds government concessions. The Singaporean government controls Temasek.

Facing growing calls for him to resign, Thaksin dissolved Parliament and called a snap election for April 2.

The alliance has identified the products and services of several Shin Corp subsidiaries as potential targets for a boycott. They include mobile-phone service provider Advanced Info Service, Thai AirAsia, Shin Satellite, Internet provider CS LoxInfo, iTV and consumer finance provider Capital OK.

The protesters said they would return to the Singaporean Embassy tomorrow   to receive an official response to their letter from the Singaporean government. 

"We will return to the embassy on March 9 to hear the response to our appeal," alliance leader Somsak Kosaisuk said. If there is no response the boycott will begin, Somsak said.

Anti-Singapore sentiment has been rising since the takeover of Shin Corp on January 23. Several groups rallied in front of the Singaporean Embassy early last month to demand that Temasek nullify the deal.

A group of about 30 student activists protested in front of the Singaporean Embassy later yesterday afternoon. They waved Thai flags and banners and called for the Singaporean government to cancel the deal. The group also submitted a letter similar to the one from the alliance.

Senior embassy official Michael Chua said the letters would be forwarded to the Singapore government.

Rossana Kosittrakul - a key member of the alliance - labelled Thaksin a traitor over the sale that saw his family receive Bt73.3 billion tax-free.

"Singapore is Thailand's fierce economic rival," she said. "Selling assets related to national security to Singapore is an act of betrayal."

The protest represented the voice of Thai people who will not accept Singapore's takeover of Thai businesses, she added.

Suriyasai Katasila, another key member of the alliance, said the grouping would adopt a new strategy to pressure Thaksin to resign.

Instead of concentrating the masses at Sanam Luang, it will divide demonstrators into several sub-groups so that they could rally at several places, such as Thai Rak Thai Party's headquarters, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Singaporean Embassy.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Maj-General Viroj Chantharangsi said he had ordered the police intelligence unit to monitor the alliance's planned rally at the Singaporean Embassy tomorrow.

 "The police are ready and well-prepared for any situations that will happen on the day," he said.