Bangkok, Thailand ? Holding candles over head and kneeling to pay their respects, tens of thousands of protesters Saturday called on Thailand’s revered king to end a political crisis by replacing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

“The crisis has reached an impasse,” Sondhi Limthongkul, a key leader in the anti-Thaksin alliance, told the crowd. “We, the king’s subjects, see no other way out in resolving the crisis without causing bloodshed.”

Sondhi and other protest leaders led the crowd outside Thaksin’s office at Government House in singing the king’s anthem, a song honoring the monarchy that is often played at major events.

Some waved the country’s red, white and blue flag and then began chanting “Thaksin, Get Out.”

King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s top advisers have publicly called for calm and dialogue, but the palace has otherwise kept its distance from the fray because the constitutional monarch is not supposed to get involved in politics.