Extra security for Thailand PM on polling day

Thai caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other cabinet ministers will be provided extra security when they go to vote Sunday, media reported.

The move came amid rising concerns about possible clashes and violence between the government supporters and anti-government protesters who might stage a mass rally Feb 2 to block people from casting their votes.

Ballot boxes and papers have also not reached election offices in many areas due to a blockade by the protesters. There is also a severe shortage of officials to handle the polling stations after many of them resigned, The Nation reported Saturday.

The protesters want the political system to be reformed before elections and Yingluck to step down. They have been taking to the streets and occupying government offices since November last year.

A total of 130,000 police personnel will be deployed at polling stations nationwide to maintain law and order during the elections, according to the director of the centre for maintaining peace and order.

At least 27 companies of soldiers would also be deployed to help police ensure that people who want to vote can do so, the director said.

The opposition People's Democratic Reform Committee has said it would not obstruct voting but some of its followers disrupted advance polling and forced the closure of many polling stations last Sunday.

Meanwhile, the civil court refused to issue an injunction Friday to suspend the state of emergency, pending a judicial review of the case against the government's imposition of the emergency decree.