The message was delivered during yesterday's meeting between the Singaporean ambassador and representatives from protesters who marched to the Singaporean Embassy in the morning to voice their anger over the deal. Some protesters carried signs reading "Thailand is not for sale", and "Temasek out".

Rosana Tositrakul, a member of anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy, said the ambassador, however, told the group that his government would not interfere with the company.

The Singaporean Embassy also released a statement saying, "Shin Corp-Temasek is a private-sector deal done purely on a commercial basis. It is not a government-to-government deal. The Singaporean government does not interfere in the business and operations of Temasek Holdings. Temasek Holdings' board and management make their own investment decisions. The Singaporean government is not involved. Singaporean companies doing businesses in Thailand are required to observe the laws of Thailand."

As the time limit for the tender offer ended yesterday, the Singaporean company's investment arm is set to be a major shareholder of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Shin Corp empire.

Earlier in the day, thousands of people marched to the embassy and threatened to boycott a wide range of Singaporean goods in a last-ditch effort to pressure Temasek into scrapping the takeover deal.

"We'll wait until 4pm for an answer from the embassy. If we don't get an answer, or the answer is unsatisfactory, we will start boycotting Singaporean goods and services immediately," said Rosana yesterday morning after she and a few protesters' representatives were invited to discuss the matter with the Singaporean ambassador.

Thaksin and his family members made Bt73.3 billion on the tax-free Shin Corp deal, sparking public outrage that has snowballed into mass weekly protests against Thaksin for, among other things, his decision to sell to foreigners industries deemed sensitive to national security.

After the gathering in front of the Singaporean Embassy, the protesters moved to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to deliver a letter to executives there accusing them of "failing to perform their duties with courage, righteousness and independence, at the expense of the public interest".

Pravej Ongartsittigul, senior assistant SEC secretary-general, said after receiving the letter from the protesters that the SEC had clarified some parts of the allegations, and the agency would explain the remainder to the public.

Meanwhile, a few international companies have released press statements denying they are related to Singapore and thus are not subject to the boycott. For instance, Cathay Pacific Airways said, "In reference to the misunderstanding of Cathay's connection with Temasek and Shin Corp, Cathay would like to confirm that the company has no shareholding relationship between the airline and the two companies."

The Conrad Hotel in Bangkok also corrected the People's Alliance's statement that it is on the boycott list. The hotel said it was a joint venture between Thais and investors from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. "None of its shareholders is Singaporean. Nor have we borrowed any money from Singapore," the hotel said in its statement.

On Wednesday, BNH Hospital also denied it was Singaporean-owned. Protesters said they had confused it with another hospital that had similar initials and was partly owned by Singaporean investors.

Rosana said, "Now Singapore is seeking investment loopholes in many other Asean countries, in order to penetrate them without considering righteousness or national security. Now we believe that Thais, along with other Asean countries, should resist the effort by Singaporean investors to take over our companies."