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Updated Sunday, March 14, 2010 11:49 am TWN, By Denis D. Gray, AP



	Soldiers stand guard at the Government House in Bangkok yesterday. Anti-government protesters headed for Bangkok from the countryside for what they are calling a “million-man march,” aiming to paralyze the capital and topple a government they say is a front for unelected elites. (AP/Reuters) More Photos (2)

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Protesters head for Bangkok

Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said protesters were being provided with free bus rides from provincial areas to Bangkok, but vehicles driven by the demonstrators had to be parked in designated areas.

The demonstrators want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call new elections, which they believe will allow their political allies to regain power. They believe Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional Thai ruling class who were jealous and fearful of Thaksin's popularity while in office in 2001-2006.

“As long as there is no justice, Thailand cannot be united,” Jaran Ditthapichai, another Red Shirt leader, told a crowd outside police headquarters Friday. “We want power to be returned to the people.”

Thailand has been in a state of constant political turmoil since early 2006, when demonstrations accusing Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power began. In 2008, when Thaksin's political allies came back to power for a year, his opponents occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months and seized Bangkok's two airports for a week.

Recent polls in Bangkok indicate a large segment of the population, irrespective of their political beliefs, is fed up with the protests, which have battered the economy, including the lucrative tourism industry.

“I'm so sick of the protests. It doesn't matter who becomes prime minister. The economy is not good and neither is anything else. Every time a protest plan is announced, tourists disappear,” said Yai Oat-ngam, a restaurant owner near an area popular with foreign backpackers.

The Red Shirts have vowed to keep their protest nonviolent — and some in Bangkok carried roses that they handed to policemen. However, the group's last major protest in Bangkok in April deteriorated into rioting that left two people dead, more than 120 people injured and buses burned on major thoroughfares. The army was called in to quash the unrest.

Many embassies have warned their citizens to stay away from areas of the city where violence could erupt.

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