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BANGKOK : Tens of thousands of red-shirted supporters of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra rallied amid tight security in Bangkok on Sunday to demand that the government step down.
Organisers of the protest said more than 100,000 people, mostly from the poor rural north, had converged close to the capital's government offices in their trademark tops, waving red flags and foot-shaped clappers.
Police overseeing a beefed-up security operation estimated a lower figure of up to 70,000 at the rally, which is being patrolled by soldiers and riot police under a tough security law after authorities warned of saboteurs.
The Reds are calling for the government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down and hold fresh elections because they claim it is elitist, military-backed and has ignored their democratic rights.
Protesters have been arriving by road and river since Friday, but the rally officially began at noon (0500 GMT) with a fiery speech from Red Shirt leader Veera Musikapong stating their demands to the government.
"Reds... call on the government to return power to the people and to dissolve the house immediately. We will hold out here and wait for an answer within 24 hours," Veera told the cheering protesters.
Demonstrators, some donning red cowboy hats as a sign of their rural roots, were in jovial spirits despite many travelling for two days by pick-up truck and bus to reach the venue.
"I'm not afraid of any violence, we won't use force, I'm not afraid of suppression by the government," said Benjawan Pholprasart, a 50-year-old petrochemical company worker from Chonburi, 80 km (50 miles) east of Bangkok.
"If we want to achieve what we want, we shouldn't be afraid," he said, adding that premier Abhisit "doesn't care about the people".
Abhisit himself stood firm Sunday morning, saying on his weekly television show: "I have my right to complete my term." But he said he had "no plans to crack down" at the rally, which was so far "peaceful and orderly".
The premier has warned the public not to be complacent about the potential for violence, saying earlier this week that there could be "sabotage" and cancelling his own weekend trip to Australia because of the protest.
The Red Shirts have held a number of protests since Abhisit came to power in December 2008, after a court decision removed Thaksin's allies from government following an airport blockade by the rival, royalist "Yellow Shirts".
If Sunday's protest officially passes the 100,000 mark, it will be the largest since the Reds rioted in Bangkok in April last year, leaving two dead and scores injured.
The government has used powers under the strict Internal Security Act for the demonstrations, allowing authorities to set up checkpoints, impose curfews and limit movements.
The rallies come two weeks after Thailand's top court confiscated 1.4 billion dollars of Thaksin's assets, and are the latest chapter in political turmoil that began when he was toppled in a 2006 coup.
Twice-elected Thaksin, who remains popular with the rural poor for the populist policies he introduced after coming to power in 2001, has been living mostly in Dubai to escape a two-year jail term for corruption at home.
The telecoms tycoon has been encouraging his supporters to attend the rally using text messages and his Twitter page. On Saturday, he left his main base in Dubai to travel to Europe, where he said he was meeting his two daughters.
He continues to split Thai society, loathed by the yellow protest movement that is backed by Bangkok's establishment, who accuse him of corruption and of disloyalty to the revered royal family.
Thirty-five countries have issued travel warnings for Thailand because of the protests, according to the country's tourism authority. - AFP/ir/ms
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