Thousands gather in Bangkok

Thailand braced for a threatened shutdown of its capital on Monday (January 13) by protesters who want to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and install an unelected government, as fears grew that the south-east Asian country could be heading for civil war.

More than ten thousand anti-government protesters marched through downtown Bangkok as tents and stages were set up in at least seven residential and main business areas.

Protesters started blocking major intersections late on Sunday (January 12), aiming to create traffic chaos in a city with an estimated 12 million population where roads are clogged at the best of times.

The upheaval is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poor, rural supporters of Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin was ousted by the military in 2006 and sentenced to jail in absentia for abuse of power in 2