Thailand's prime minister faced more criticism June 24 with the lower house of Parliament set to consider a no-confidence motion, but his government said it was confident he would keep his job.

Samak Sundaravej AP PHOTO

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was defiant during the opening round of a no-confidence censure brought by the opposition in the Senate on June 23, after four weeks of street protests calling for the government to resign.

"Do not mess with someone like Samak!" the prime minister angrily told senators.

Opponents accuse Samak's five-month-old government of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, and accuse Thaksin of wanting to abolish Thailand's revered monarchy.