Lunar new year celebration, protest truck shot at, preparations for elections

(1 Feb 2014) Anti-government protesters in Thailand headed to the streets in protest for another day on Saturday, one day ahead of a controversial general election. The march by protesters opposed to the government and the poll coincided with celebrations to mark the Lunar New Year. Dragon dance performers joined the protesters and leader Suthep Thaugusban, who said whether or not to go to the polls would be an easy choice for voters. "It's not a hard decision for the citizens because they know that Thaksin (Yingluck's brother and former leader) and Yingluck want an election and want to use the election to cleanse themselves so they will look innocent," he said. The protesters accuse Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of carrying on the practices of her billionaire brother Thaksin, a former prime minister they allege used the family fortune and state funds to influence voters and subvert democracy. Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 after street protests accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. He fled into exile in 2008 to avoid a two-year prison sentence for a conflict of interest. Yingluck called the early polls, hoping to reaffirm her mandate after facing strident street protests that threatened to result in prolonged violence. But anti-government forces, who have been demonstrating since November, want an unelected interim government to hold office for up to two years to implement political and electoral reforms to fight corruption and money politics. Half of Thailand's police force, 200-thousand officers, will be on duty nationwide on Sunday amid fears that the protesters' attempt to block voters may spark violence. During the advance voting, protesters chained the gates to polling stations and physically prevented voters from entering. Crowds also intimidated officials overseeing the voting into shutting down. This happened despite protest leaders saying voters would not be blocked, a promise they made again for this Sunday's vote. This time, however, a lot more people are expected to come out wanting to vote, raising the possibility of violence. A truck used by protesters to block a road to a local district office housing election material was shot at early on Saturday. Security officers from the protest movement inspected the damaged vehicle, which appeared to have sustained three shots to one of its side windows. A local monk and protest leader called for better security in and around the protest areas. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...