Thailand election: Millions prepare to vote
Source: BBC News
1 February 2014 Last updated at 17:47 ET
Thailand election: Millions prepare to vote
Millions of Thais are preparing to vote in a general election boycotted by the opposition and blighted by protests.
Anti-government protesters say they will disrupt voting across Thailand and continue their campaign to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to quit. They took part in a 30-minute gun battle with government supporters in Bangkok on Saturday.
Ms Yingluck, who won the last election in 2011, called the vote to head off mass protests that began in November.
Her opponents took to the streets after her government tried to pass an amnesty law that would potentially have allowed her brother, Thaksin, to return from exile. Thaksin, a former prime minister who fled during a court case in 2008, is reviled by the protesters, who say he controls the government from abroad.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26003995