Thailand has mobilised about 40,000 security personnel ahead of mass rallies by "red shirt" opposition¹ 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 converging²（合并，会聚） on the capital, Bangkok, on Sunday.

They are mainly supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted³（剥夺，驱逐） in a military coup⁴（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 invoked⁵（交叫唤） , giving the military the power to impose curfews（宵禁） and restrict numbers at gatherings⁶.

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 demonstration⁷.

Smaller rallies, meetings and "political schools" have been planned for various provinces before convoys⁸（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 disperse⁹（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 justify¹⁰ 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 elites¹¹.

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 corruption¹² conviction.

Last month the Supreme¹³ 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.