Thaksin protesters converge for rally in Thai capital

Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra gathered near ministry buildings in Bangkok yesterday to rally against the government, sporting their signature red shirts.

Bangkok police said 45,000 Red Shirts had arrived at a stage rigged up for today's rally after most travelled from the rural north and through military checkpoints set up at entry points to the capital.

Thai authorities have used a tough security law to deploy a 50,000-strong security force, including soldiers, to patrol the streets and search protesters, fearing some could incite trouble.

The Red Shirts travelled to the city mostly by pick-up truck and car, playing loud music and waving red flags and heart-shaped clappers in jubilant spirits.

"Tomorrow we will declare our demands to the government, that it must step down and dissolve the house," Red Shirt Jatuporn Prompan said at the rally site.

"If our demands are not met then we will step up our campaign tomorrow but I can reassure everyone that it will be peaceful."

The government has enacted the strict Internal Security Act to monitor the rally, allowing authorities to set up checkpoints, impose curfews and limit movement of people.

Current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has refused to bow to protesters' demands, spoke to reporters after meeting ministers and top brass at a military barracks.

"We should not be complacent because there are some groups of people still wanting to create violence and cause confrontations," said Abhisit, who has cancelled a weekend trip to Australia because of the rally.

The government has lowered its estimate of expected turnout at today's rally to 70,000, but the Red Shirts say the final figure will be nearer 600,000.

The protests come two weeks after Thailand's top court confiscated $1.4 billion of Thaksin's assets, and are the latest chapter in a political crisis that has beset Thailand since he was toppled in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin, who has been living mostly in Dubai to escape a two-year jail term for corruption at home, has been encouraging his supporters using text messages and his Twitter page.