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BANGKOK: Anti-government demonstrators vowed on Sunday to march on military barracks housing Thailand's top leaders as their icon, deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, urged them from exile not to give up.
The red-clad protesters - assembled amid tight security in public spaces near government offices in Bangkok - have vowed to step up their campaign if the government does not dissolve parliament within 24 hours.
"We will leave here to listen to the government's answer at the 11th Infantry Unit," Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar told reporters. "If they fail to answer our demands we will announce our next step."
The Red Shirts, who stem largely from the country's poor and support the populist Thaksin, had predicted a "million man march" but in the event said more than 100,000 protesters turned up Sunday. Police said there were 86,000.
Nattawut said the Reds would travel by bus, car and on foot on Monday morning to the army base on Bangkok's northern outskirts, where the government has mounted a huge security operation with soldiers and police.
An army spokesman said security had been beefed up with hundreds of extra troops at the barracks, where Abhisit and other key ministers along with the country's top brass were staying during the protests.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, in charge of the country's security, said the protesters would be permitted to approach the base.
"Protesters can circle the barracks but they must not obstruct traffic or intrude into the barracks or they will be arrested," Suthep told reporters.
He said it was too early to say if emergency rule would be invoked to crackdown on the rally.
"We have to see how the situation develops but I reaffirm that we will act reasonably and appropriately," he added.
The Red Shirts are loyal to former prime minister Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and is living abroad, mostly in Dubai, to escape a jail term for corruption.
Last month Thailand's top court confiscated 1.4 billion dollars of his wealth.
"I ask all Red Shirts not to give up. Don't worry about me. This is not a one-person issue, we all fight for justice. I am the victim of bullies among the elites," Thaksin told the rally in a 50-minute address by video link.
Thaksin did not specify where he was but on his Twitter page on Saturday said he was flying to see his daughters in Europe.
The authorities have deployed a 50,000-strong security force across Bangkok and its surrounds to oversee the rallies, and invoked a strict security law that allows them to call out troops, ban gatherings and impose curfews.
Protesters arrived by road and river throughout the day at Bangkok's historic quarter, where the crowd remained in jubilant spirits, waving red flags and foot-shaped clappers.
Some, wearing red cowboy hats as a sign of their rural roots, had travelled for two days by pick-up truck and bus to reach the venue.
"This government says it will help but the money never reaches the people," said food vendor Soon Boonpha, 47, who came from Maha Sarakham province in Thailand's northeast.
Abhisit has rejected the calls for his resignation and cancelled a weekend trip to Australia.
It is the latest in a string of protests to rock the politically turbulent nation, which is divided between Thaksin's supporters and opponents.
And Sunday's demonstration is the largest in Bangkok since the Reds rioted last April, leaving two dead and scores injured.
Twice-elected Thaksin remains popular for his anti-poverty policies after coming to power in 2001, but he is loathed by Bangkok's establishment, which accuses him of corruption and disloyalty to the revered royal family.
The Red Shirts have held a number of rallies since Abhisit came to power in December 2008, after a court decision removed Thaksin's allies from government following an airport blockade by rival "Yellow Shirts." - AFP/ms/de
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