Pro-Thaksin supporters call for snap election

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators allied with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra staged their first major protest of the year in Bangkok today, demanding the government dissolve Parliament and call snap elections.

More than 3,500 policemen were deployed near the protest site - an open field in the historic heart of Bangkok - and the military was on standby, Bangkok police chief Lt Gen Suchart Maunkaew said before the late afternoon rally.