BANGKOK – Anti-government protesters massed around Thailand on Friday ahead of a march they hope will paralyze the capital and force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call new elections. Authorities mobilized 50,000 security officers and set up checkpoints around Bangkok.

Several schools closed in Bangkok and foreigners were advised by over 30 embassies and the Tourism Authority of Thailand to stay away from the protests, as Thailand braced for violence in the latest chapter of a four-year political crisis.
The so-called Red Shirts, who support fugitive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, have vowed to keep their protest nonviolent — and some in Bangkok carried single stem roses that they handed to policemen. Demonstrators started meeting around the country Friday, including at several locations in the capital, where they plan to converge in a mass rally Sunday.
The group includes followers of Thaksin and other people who oppose the 2006 military coup that toppled him. They believe Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional Thai ruling class who were fearful of Thaksin's popularity while in office in 2001-2006.