泰国政府全力应对“红衬衫”反抗集会

Thailand has mobilised about 40,000 security personnel ahead of mass rallies by "red shirt" opposition protesters over the coming days.

泰国政府调动大约4万治安保卫人员来应对在接下来的几天中由反对派抗议者发动的“红衬衫”公众集会。

Security forces have been given additional powers

The demonstrators plan to meet around the country before converging（合并，会聚） on the capital, Bangkok, on Sunday.

They are mainly supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted（剥夺，驱逐） in a military coup（军事政变） in 2006.

They say they plan to rally until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calls new elections.

The government has promised a tough reaction if the protests set to begin on Friday turn violent.

The Internal Security Act has been invoked（交叫唤） , giving the military the power to impose curfews（宵禁） and restrict numbers at gatherings.

Checkpoints have been set up on the roads into Bangkok.

The red shirt movement, led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD反独裁民主联盟), has promised a huge but peaceful demonstration.

Smaller rallies, meetings and "political schools" have been planned for various provinces before convoys（护送，护卫） of vehicles carry protesters to the capital.

The red shirts' last major protests, in April last year, turned violent, with two deaths and dozens of people injured.

"If there is a siege（围攻，包围） , we would no longer consider it a peaceful protest and immediately take steps to disperse（驱散，消散） the crowds," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.

The protest leaders say the government is playing up the threat of violence to justify a possible crackdown（制裁，镇压） .

The red shirts oppose the 2006 military coup that toppled（颠覆，倾倒） Thaksin Shinawatra.

They say Prime Minister Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the backing of the military and the Bangkok-based elites.

Mr Thaksin's power base was in the rural north. He is now living in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid a jail term on a corruption conviction.

Last month the Supreme Court ruled that just over half of the assets（资产，财产） ($1.4bn; £910m) belonging to Mr Thaksin or his family which were frozen since the coup, should be seized.