BANGKOK, Thailand — Thousands of demonstrators — some armed with golf clubs, batons and bamboo sticks — defied a court order to end their occupation of the prime minister’s office compound on Thursday, vowing to remain until the country’s leaders resign.

Dozens of members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy clad in military fatigues wielded makeshift weapons as they stood guard around the perimeter of the compound, which the demonstrators have occupied since Tuesday.

Protesters locked most of the gates and built barriers in anticipation of a possible police raid.

As dusk approached, the crowd of several thousand began to swell slightly as some protesters returned after spending the day at their workplaces. They vowed to stay for as long as it takes to push Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej out of office.

“We can withstand any difficult conditions if we can topple Samak,” said Kitja Usaiphan, 43, a fisherman who has been camping at the site since Tuesday.

The alliance accuses Samak’s government of corruption and of serving as a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and faces several corruption cases.

Late Wednesday, Bangkok Civil Court issued a ruling ordering the alliance to leave the government compound and stop blocking public streets. The Criminal Court also issued warrants for the arrest of the nine alliance leaders on charges of insurrection, conspiracy, illegal assembly and refusing orders to disperse.

Insurrection, which is the legal equivalent of treason, carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment.

Thousands of additional supporters poured into the grounds in response, and many formed a human chain overnight around the group’s top leaders to prevent them from being taken away.

The court on Thursday rejected the alliance’s appeal to withdraw the eviction order, describing the request to stay on as “unreasonable.” The alliance said it might file a second appeal Friday with different arguments.

Samak said Thursday that the court order had given the government extra leverage to deal with the protesters, but he has vowed not to use force to remove them.

“Simply stated, the court has given the government a ‘sword,’ but officials concerned will enforce the court order with caution,” the state Thai News Agency quoted him saying.

Samak initially said he had hoped the protesters would be out before a ceremony Saturday for Thailand’s royal family, but he announced Thursday that he has proposed moving the ceremony to another site.

On Thursday, there were about 5,000 protesters inside the grounds and another 5,000 outside the gates. As many as 30,000 protesters were at the compound when it was broken into on Tuesday.

Bags of trash were piling up, sleeping mats covered the grounds, protesters hung laundry from buildings and toilets were in short supply. Supporters came by donating bags of chips, rice and crates of soda, and other demonstrators distributed fresh underwear.

After Thaksin was deposed in the bloodless coup, his party was dissolved and he was banned from public office until 2012.

But Samak led Thaksin’s political allies to a December 2007 election victory, and their assumption of power triggered fears that Thaksin would make a political comeback. He remains popular with the country’s rural majority.

Thaksin has sought refuge in Britain, claiming he would not get a fair trial in Thailand.