Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament on Monday and called a snap election, but anti-government protest leaders pressed ahead with mass demonstrations in Bangkok seeking to install an unelected body to run the country.
Police estimated that about 150,000 protesters were converging on Yingluck's office at Government House, extending a rally that had descended into violence before pausing late last week out of respect for the king's birthday.
Blowing whistles, they said they would oust Yingluck and eradicate the influence of her self-exiled brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Declaring they were unable to work with Yingluck, the main opposition Democrat Party resigned en masse from parliament on Sunday, raising the question of whether it would boycott the election, driving Thailand deeper into crisis.
Voting could go ahead without the Democrats but it would not end the deadlock if they staged a boycott, said Pavin Chachavalpongpun of Kyoto University's Centre for Southeast Asian Studies.
Source: Reuters
