BANGKOK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej rejected calls for his resignation on Thursday, saying he will not "jump ship" in the face of a three-month-old street campaign to unseat him.

Speaking on national radio, Samak said he would not call a snap election to defuse the protests, which turned violent this week, prompting him to declare a state of emergency.

"I can tell you I will not quit. I will not dissolve parliament. I will stay to protect democracy," Samak said in his 50-minute address.

"As long as he insists on staying on, we will not go anywhere. It doesn't matter how many days or years, or even into the next life," PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul told a cheering crowd barricaded inside the Government House compound.

The PAD, a coalition of businessmen, activists and academics, accuses Samak of being an illegitimate proxy of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and now lives in exile in London.

Samak, who was due to make another nationwide address at 2 p.m. (0700 GMT) as part of a public relations offensive against the PAD, said it was time for people to choose which side they were on.

"I will not jump ship, I will be in control. The rest of the country must decide if they will join them," he said.

Samak declared emergency rule on Tuesday after clashes between his supporters and anti-government protesters killed one man and injured 45. But the army has refused to use force to evict the protesters, saying it would only make the situation worse.

The crisis has distracted the government at a time when the country faces slowing growth and high inflation, prompting exasperated investors to park their money elsewhere.

The main stock index has fallen 25 percent since the protests began in May.

(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Alan Raybould)