BANGKOK, THAILAND - THAILAND'S MPs will vote on the future of embattled Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej this week in a no-confidence debate, a senior official said on Saturday.

House Speaker Chai Chidchob set the debate to begin on Tuesday in a bid to defuse the political crisis engulfing the premier's four-month-old rule, with 25,000 protesters besieging government offices since Friday.

'The debate on two no-confidence motions will begin 1:30 pm on Tuesday onwards,' Mr Pitoon Pumhiran, secretary-general to the House of Representatives, said.

'I don't know how long the debate will take but a vote of all members will be arranged as soon as the debate ends,' he said.

The opposition Democrat Party lodged a motion of no confidence against Mr Samak and seven cabinet members last Wednesday, but the government had said it could not pursue the matter before the parliamentary session ends on June 28. -- AFP