Thai protesters stage sit-ins to lessen influence of former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra Thailand's governing party accused protesters Tuesday of fomenting anarchy and trying to overthrow the government after thousands of people swarmed the streets of Bangkok, besieging key ministries and threatening to take their campaign nationwide. In a country that has become less governable amid a grinding and bitter political rivalry, protesters surrounded the Interior Ministry on Tuesday and threatened to cut off power to the agriculture, tourism and transport ministries. Those actions followed the occupation of the foreign and finance ministries Monday. "Occupying government property cannot be considered anything but insurrection," said Kokaew Pikulthong, a member of Parliament for the ruling party, Pheu Thai. The party said it had filed a petition with the attorney-general's office accusing protesters of trying to overthrow the government. Demonstrators, Mr. Kokaew said, "want Thailand to descend into anarchy." Protest leaders, led by top opposition figures, are pursuing the goal of eradicating from the country the influence of Thaksin Shinawatra, the tycoon and former prime minister who has been in exile since a 2008 conviction for abuse of power. Mr. Thaksin remains very popular in the countryside, and his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is the country's prime minister. The protests, the largest since demonstrations in 2010 that ended in a bloody military crackdown, have been led by Suthep Thaugsuban, who until recently was the deputy head of the opposition Democrat Party. "I insist that this is the best method to overthrow Thaksin's system without bloodshed," Mr. Suthep said in a Facebook message posted Tuesday. We will just come and sit here. A criminal court in Bangkok issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Mr. Suthep for breaching the peace and for invasion of property. In a speech to his supporters late Tuesday, Mr. Suthep called on protesters to "besiege" all ministries in Bangkok and government offices nationwide Wednesday. As they have numerous times in Thailand's tumultuous recent history, foreign governments, including that of the United States, advised their citizens to avoid protest areas. In a possible sign that the protests may not have the backing of the mainstream opposition, Mr. Suthep and the protest leaders were chided by some opposition members of Parliament. Korn Chatikavanij, a former finance minister and senior member of the Democrat Party, criticized the government Tuesday for not listening to the "voice of the people." "But it doesn't mean that we agree with what the protesters have done," he said.