No resistance as crowds of protesters occupy Thai capital

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By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Thai anti-government protesters occupied parts of central Bangkok on Monday, meeting no resistance from the authorities, ratcheting up a two-month agitation to force the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Police and soldiers kept a low profile as the "Shutdown Bangkok, Restart Thailand" drive got under way in the city of about 12 million people, and the mood among protesters was festive, with many singing and dancing in the streets. But protesters said they were prepared for a long haul to tighten the noose on the capital, suggesting the crisis could drag on for days, if not weeks, threatening to inflict substantial damage on Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy. The upheaval is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.




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