Thaksin supporters rally in Bangkok

BANGKOK, June 27 (UPI) -- Supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra prepared Saturday for an overnight protest against the current government.

Thaksin, who has not returned to the country since he was ousted three years ago in a bloodless military coup, talked to the thousands of people gathered in front of the Grand Palace by telephone from his new home in Dubai, the BBC reported. He asked supporters to keep fighting and not to leave him "dying in the desert."

Jatuporn Promphan, a leader of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, promised the thousands of people gathered in a square in front of the palace in Bangkok would be non-violent, Bernama news service reported.

"We are staying put here and the gathering will be peaceful. We have no plan to move to Government House or elsewhere," he said.

The current government, headed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, was elected after a military junta gave up power last year.

The rally follows a clash between Thaksin supporters and police in Bangkok left two people dead, two days after the UDD disrupted an East Asian summit.