Anti-government protests grow in Thailand

Mass protests in Thailand have taken on 'historic proportions' against the government [Reuters]

 Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Bangkok in an effort to topple the Thai government and put an end to what they say is the continued influence of the deposed former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Demonstrators on Sunday called for the removal of Yingluck Shinawatra, the country's current premier and sister of Thaksin, in the most significant political protests in Thailand since bloody rallies in 2010
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"We are going to see ongoing tension," said analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"The anti-government protests are strong enough now to stymie government policy work and without the ability to get policy work done, I think that we are beginning to see the new electoral cycle in motion," Thitinan said.
Demonstrations were triggered last month by a proposed government plan that would have granted amnesty to Thaksin, in self-imposed exile since 2008, and pardoned those responsible for a 2010 military crackdown on pro-government "Red Shirt" supporters that left more than 90 people dead.
The opposing gorup, who stand against the government, are known as the "Yellow Shirts."
A constitutional court also blocked Yingluck's plans this week to create a fully-elected Senate, which would have enabled her to consolidate power in both of Thailand's houses of parliament.
"This is a demonstration that is taking on historic proportions," Al Jazeera's Veronica Pedrosa reported from the protests in Bangkok.
"The people who have turned up are united in their push to kick the prime minister and the influence of her brother out of leadership, out of power. They want to dismantle those networks."
Polarising figure
Thailand has been rocked by periodic outbreaks of protest violence since Thaksin was deposed in a military coup seven years ago. Thailand has seen 18 actual or attempted coups since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
The former leader has ardent support from many of the country's rural and working class, while the elite and middle classes accuse him of corruption.
While the Democrats have not won an elected majority in two decades, Thaksin and his allies have repeatedly demonstrated strong poll support.
The country's ruling party is expected to win should the the current crisis force Yingluck to dissolve parliament and call an early election.