Tens of thousands of Thai pro-government "Red Shirts" have massed in Bangkok, in their first show of force since a wave of opposition protests against a controversial political amnesty bill.
Television footage shows a sea of people decked out in red, many bused in from the country's northeast, at a noisy rally in a suburban park in support of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her ruling Puea Thai party.
About 45,000 Red Shirts joined the rally, a spokesman for the national police office said on Sunday, adding 13,000 anti-government protesters held a separate demonstration elsewhere in the city a few kilometres from Government House.
The major mobilisation of Reds follows several days of protests by various opposition groups against a deeply divisive amnesty bill backed by Yingluck's government, which has inflamed festering political wounds.
Thailand's Senate is due on Monday to debate the bill, which critics say has been crafted to pave the way for a return of the polarising ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Yingluck's brother.
The former telecoms tycoon was toppled by royalist generals in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid prison for a corruption conviction that he contends was politically motivated.
While the rallies have so far been peaceful, the fear is that the legislation could unleash a fresh bout of political turmoil in a country rocked by a series of rival colour-coded demonstrations since 2006.
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