'It's about time' to take back Bangkok: minister

Anti-government protesters wave Thai national flags before marching towards the Public Health Ministry in Bangkok January 16, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BANGKOK - A senior Thai minister said on Friday "it's about time" to take back control of the capital, Bangkok, a sign the government may be losing patience with a blockade by thousands of protesters demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul was speaking as a delegation of officials, escorted by police and the military, set out for a government office that issues passports to persuade protesters there to leave and allow work to resume.

"If successful, this can be an example for other ministries to follow," Surapong told a news conference.

Asked if the government was now moving to end a blockade of ministries and several key intersections of the city, he said: "Soon. It's about time. We have to start to do something."

The unrest flared in November and escalated on Monday when demonstrators led by former opposition politician Suthep Thaugsuban brought much of the capital to standstill, though the numbers protesting appeared to be dwindling midweek.

The turmoil is the latest episode in an eight-year conflict that pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.