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Sunday February 12, 4:26 AM Protesters call for Thai PM to quit, but rally turnout low Photo: AFP BANGKOK (AFP) - Thousands of protesters rallied to call for Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign, but the turnout was much smaller than last week's mass demonstration which rattled the government. Chanting "Thaksin get out," they held banners that read: "Thaksin=Toxin: Master of Evil" and many wore large stickers printed with a caricature of the premier with a Hitler-type moustache and the slogan "Wanted - Dead or Alive." "He is very arrogant, insulting other people and running the government as a one-man show. He is worse than a tyrant," campaign leader Sondhi Limthongkul told the cheering crowd. The protest alliance would rally again on February 26, he said in a midnight closing address, "and this time we will not disperse until we claim victory." Sondhi claimed a turnout of 100,000 but police said that partly because of confusion over the venue there were only about 15,000 demonstrators at the rally -- well down from the 50,000 who massed in the royal square a week ago. Metropolitan police had earlier banned protesters from the Royal Plaza, which is closely identified with Thailand's revered monarch, and threatened to arrest those who defied the order. But after several hundred demonstrators marched arm-in-arm into the square, negotiations took place and they were eventually allowed in under the watch of hundreds of police officers. The February 26 rally is to be held elsewhere. Thaksin, who celebrated five years in office on Thursday, has repeatedly refused to quit despite the protests and the departure of two ministers, but on Saturday floated the possibility of a referendum on constitutional reforms demanded by his critics, which could make it easier to unseat a government. "I welcome the call for constitutional changes, but I have to ask for the public's approval. If they agree, then I will go ahead," he said in a radio address, adding that a ballot could be held in April. The campaign was given momentum by his family's 1.9 billion dollar sale of telecoms giant Shin Corp., a deal which avoided capital gains tax and drew criticism that critical Thai assets were being sold to foreigners. "I think our prime minister is not honest. He sold our assets, our satellites and mobile phones, to Singapore. His action is stupid, and he's not sincere," said one protester, 27-year-old Dananat Nimitanya. "I will keep coming every week," he vowed as he handed out yellow bandanas, a colour associated with King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Many in the crowd wore yellow T-shirts and waved yellow banners. The mood was relaxed, with children and many older people among the crowd. Vendors sold drinks, snacks and plastic sheeting to sit on, as well as flowers and incense sticks to place at the statue of a former king. Sondhi, a media mogul who was once a close ally of Thaksin, has drawn together a disparate array of protest groups, including rights activists, opponents of free trade, students, and media freedom groups. But the low turnout is likely to be seen as indication that the anti-government movement is losing steam. Thaksin reiterated Saturday that there was no wrongdoing in the Shin Corp. sale to Singapore's state-owned investment firm Temasek and that he would not cave in to calls to quit. "You can rest assured that I will not do the wrong thing. I will be honest, uphold the rules, and not take improper advantage during my time in office as prime minister," he said in a radio address. Meanwhile, several pro-Thaksin rallies were held in the country's rural north and northeast, drawing several thousand people at each.