Thai PM dodges Bangkok protest

Protesters are camping outside Mr Thaksin's office

Embattled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has returned to Bangkok after several days' election campaigning in the country's north.

But he avoided going to Government House, where thousands of protesters are camped on the streets demanding his resignation.

A key meeting was relocated to a ministry some distance away.

Mr Thaksin has called a poll for 2 April in a bid to silence critics, who accuse him of misrule and corruption.

But Thailand's election commission chairman has cast doubt on whether the election can go ahead as planned, because the main opposition has vowed to boycott.

Protesters are reported to be maintaining a 24-hour vigil outside Mr Thaksin's office.

Mr Thaksin changed his venue for a planning meeting on Thursday on the King's upcoming 60th coronation anniversary away from Government House, to the Foreign Ministry, over 1km up the road.

Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said the congestion outside Government House made it "inconvenient" for Mr Thaksin to hold Thursday's meeting there.

But protesters saw it as a sign he was afraid to pass them.

Security worries

On the outskirts of Bangkok, thousands of Mr Thaksin's supporters are arriving from the provinces, many of them riding tractors.

They are expected to be led into the city's northern market district and prevented from running into anti-Thaksin protesters.

It is a delicate security operation but the army and police appear confident that violence can be avoided, a BBC correspondent in Bangkok, Kylie Morris, says.

Mr Thaksin was expected to easily win the 2 April election.

But Election Commission Chairman Vasana Puemlarp said on Wednesday that the election might have to be delayed.

"It's not a simple decision but we will hold consultations soon. There are many factors to support moving the election date," Vasana Puemlarp told reporters.

There are fears that a boycott of the poll by opposition parties may mean that not enough MPs are returned to convene the body.

The protesters against Mr Thaksin are angry at the $1.9bn sale of his family firm Shin Corp, accusing him of tax dodges and betraying the nation by selling an important national asset to Singaporean investors.