Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Thailand's deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have begun converging on the capital Bangkok to attend a rally aimed at bringing down the government.

The influx of so-called opposition Red Shirts has already bought parts of the capital to a standstill. The organisers, who insist the protest will be peaceful, are expecting some one million people to join Sunday's rally. The authorities have deployed 50,000 police officers and soldiers across the city ahead of the demonstration.

The protests come two weeks after Thailand's Supreme Court confiscated around one billion euros of Mr Thaksin's assets. The court convicted him of fraud and corruption. Mr Thaksin was deposed in a military coup in 2006. Since then, he has been living mostly in Dubai to escape a two-year jail term. Using internet, Twitter and other channels he has succeeded in retaining considerable influence in Thailand.