Above: Tens of thousands of people join a rally to oust Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at Sanam Luang yesterday.

Nearly 100,000 people started to march from the rally's designated location at 8.30pm towards the heart of Thaksin's administration.

After initial police resistance, the demonstrators were allowed to march past Government House and return Sanam Luang where they would camp for the night.

Anti-Thaksin campaign leader Sondhi Limthongkul said the protestors would not budge until Thaksin resigned.

Four hundred riot police, holding batons and shields, set up a blockade on Phan Fa Bridge to halt the marchers.

The anti-government protesters would be barred from crossing the Phan Fa Bridge unless they could prove they needed to cross the river, Pol Maj-General Pramoj Prathumwong, commander of the Division One of the Metropolitan Police, who was in charge of bridge last night, had said.

Security was also heightened at Government House and the prime minister's home in Charan Sanitwong Soi 69.

Sondhi admitted the campaign against the premier might turn into a war of attrition and vowed to hold a daily demonstration at Sanam Luang until Thaksin steps down.

An intense atmosphere developed at the rally as more than 100,000 demonstrators displayed civil disobedience against what they viewed as the widespread corruption of the Thaksin regime.

The PAD, which organised yesterday's massive anti-Thaksin demonstration, stopped short of endorsing or opposing a petition for a royally-appointed prime minister lodged yesterday by people related to the royal family, senators, academics and other prominent figures.

"Our single objective is to force Thaksin from power and we will stay at the monument until he stands down," said Sondhi. "Thaksin is an evil force in Thai politics."

Almost 100 senior academics lodged a petition yesterday with His Majesty the King to seek a royally appointed prime minister and to preside over a round of political reform.

Sondhi said PAD leaders held a meeting before the rally yesterday but did not discuss the matter of the petition to the King.

"What we know is that Thaksin has to go without any conditions. We did not discuss a post-Thaksin scenario," Sondhi said.

Suriyasai Katasila, a PAD coordinator, said the people's alliance aimed to force Thaksin from office in accordance with the democratic system, rather than seeking "extra" power for intervention.

He said various groups which considered Thaksin a major problem for Thai politics had the right to seek separate solutions.

"Thaksin has created this situation. If he resigned, everything would be over," Suriyasai said.

Crowds from across the Kingdom poured into Sanam Luang for the rally to counter Thaksin's own mass rally of around 200,000 people held on Friday.

A large proportion of yesterday protesters were members of Bangkok's urban middle class, with many people travelling up from southern provinces where anti-Thaksin sentiment is intense.

Bamroong Khayotha, an adviser to the Assembly of the Poor, said although most impoverished people in the provinces remain staunch Thaksin supporters, thousands of farmers from across the country were at the rally.

"Only those who can access accurate information and realise the true colour of Thaksin have come here. So while urban people want to oust Thaksin, we still need to educate rural people," he said.

Suchart Swadsri, a highly respected writer, said the request for royal intervention was misplaced because it was Thaksin's responsibility to help ease the crisis.

Prateep Sirichaiseubyos, a company employee at the rally, said only a PM appointed by the King could be seen as "neutral" enough to help the country through its crisis.

He said he wanted to see General Prem Tinsulanonda, president of the Privy Council, appointed as acting prime minister.

On Friday, at the pro-Thaksin rally, the premier said the virulent protests against him resulted from personal conflicts with former friends, including Sondhi, Dharma Army chief Chamlong Srimuang and former Thai Rak Thai key faction leader Snoh Thienthong.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee,

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation