BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- In Thailand, police have fired tear gas in clashes with protesters in Bangkok at a rally seeking to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. With tens of thousands of protesters in attendance, it is said to be the largest demonstration yet against her administration.

Roads blocked, Internal Security Act invoked, more than 50,000 police deployed. This could be the biggest anti-government demonstration the country has seen since Thailand’s Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra took office. And the government isn’t taking any chances.

The rally, which was expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters, was mostly peaceful in its early stages. Then this… police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd of protesters who tried to break through a line of concrete barricades erected on a street near the protest site.

Behind the reporter is the 2nd round of tear gas that has been thrown at protesters today. The 1st was earlier this morning but no one was injured.

But on the other side of the rally site, things were calm. Tens of thousands of protesters clapped, cheered and chanted “Yingluck, get out! Yingluck, get out!”, A show of force against the government, protestors vow that they will stay they will fight to the death until they get what they want.

Thitichart Yokmark, protest, said, “I’m not afraid. If anything happens, I can guarantee to you now that I am happy to die for my country.”

But there is growing fear that this rally could herald another period of unrest in Thailand, which has seen frequent bloody street protests in recent years. The two month long rally in 2010 by "Red Shirt" supporters of ousted Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra sparked a deadly military crackdown that left about 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 wounded.

The group “Pitak Siam” that is behind this mass demonstration believe that Yingluck Shinawatra heads a “puppet government” controlled by her brother Thaksin, who currently lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai after he was ousted by a military coup in 2006.

Vachara Riddhagni, Pitak Siam spokesman, said, “This government, this puppet of Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra who is an outlaw, who lives outside this Kingdom, but he runs this country from outside.”

Organsiers say that this was to be a peaceful protest. But the tensions are flaring.

The situation at this anti-government rally is starting to get tense. It is pretty much going towards the direction of the worst case scenario for a country that has seen it’s fair share of political unrest. We have police on this side who have thrown 2 rounds of tear gas. We have protestors on this side who aren’t giving up. We do not know what is going to happen.

The rally is planned for 2 days. But the big question is, ‘what then’? Will protesters stand down in fear of more violence? Or will they become more radical in the hopes of serving their purpose? But one thing is certain; the country is now more politically divided than ever before.

(Source: CNTV.cn)