Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage gives a bird's-eye view of the protests, as Jonathan Head reports 
 
 Protesters are blocking roads in parts of the Thai capital, Bangkok, in a bid to oust the government before snap elections on 2 February. 
 
 The protesters have built barricades and occupied key road junctions, and want to replace the government with an unelected "People's Council". 
 
 The government has deployed 18,000 security personnel to maintain order. 
 
 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has offered to meet protest leaders to discuss potentially delaying the polls. 
 
 Protesters allege Ms Yingluck is a proxy for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in 2006 and is currently in self-imposed exile. 
 
 Thaksin-allied parties draw considerable support from rural voters and have won the last four elections. 
 
 Analysis It was all wearily familiar - the shrieking whistles, the colourful umbrellas, the rousing speeches and music from the stages, which had been moved overnight to block some of Bangkok's busiest intersections. And there was a certain weariness visible among the protesters, now in their third month of street rallies. Not the same levels of energy I saw a month ago. Nor do these loyal supporters of a movement largely defined by its hatred of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her family really know what results to expect from their marathon protest. They know about the idea of an "appointed committee" to fix Thai politics, and they can all mouth the slogans "Reform Before Election", and "Shutdown Bangkok, Restart Thailand". But, asked what would happen if the prime minister resigned, and her own substantial support base outside Bangkok were to refuse to accept this, no one had an answer. "Well, it doesn't matter, because we are going to win anyway", was one woman's hopeful answer. The longer these debilitating protests continue, the more likely a dramatic, perhaps violent, showdown between the two irreconcilable sides of Thai politics. Would that spark the much-rumoured military intervention? A coup still seems unlikely, and yet not impossible. The crowds on the street are just a part of a bigger game, involving bargaining and brinkmanship by leaders on all sides. In a conversation with Anchalee Praireerat, one of the more hard-core protest leaders, she would not say exactly what she expected to happen. But she assured me it would all be over in three days, and that the protesters would win. 
 
 But the protesters claim the Thaksin-allied parties' populist policies have created a flawed democracy. The main opposition party is now boycotting the 2 February polls. 
 
 Anti-government demonstrators have called on Ms Yingluck - who has urged protesters to respect the democratic process and use the February elections to choose the next government - to step down. 
 
 Thailand's election commission has called for the vote to be postponed to May. 
 
 But this is unlikely to satisfy the protesters, who want the Shinawatra family to be purged from politics, and a two-year period without elections in which an appointed committee would reform Thailand's political system, the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok reports. 
 
 At least eight people have been killed since the protests began late last year. On Saturday, at least seven people were injured when unknown gunmen opened fire on demonstrators at the main rally site in Bangkok. 
 
 On Sunday night, an unidentified gunman attacked demonstrators at a protest site, shooting at least one man, officials said. 
 
 Police said a gunman also fired shots at the opposition party headquarters in a separate incident, although no casualties were reported. 
 
 'People's revolution' 
 
 Thousands are reported to have turned out for Monday's demonstrations. Protesters say they intend to achieve what they are calling a shutdown of the capital. 
 
 Protester Darunee Suredechakul told AP news agency: "The government has to go. Reforms must be carried out." 
 
 "We don't want to see the same old corrupted politicians returning to power over and over again," she added. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Anti-government protesters are blocking key roads in Bangkok 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Protesters, who want to replace the government with an unelected council, say they will shut Bangkok down 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Some major roads were nearly completely empty on Monday 
 
 Seven major intersections have been blocked by the anti-government protest movement, which has erected stages and piles of sandbags across the roads, the BBC's Jonathan Head reports. 
 
 The government says it wants life to continue as normal through the shutdown and has ordered extra trains to run on the mass transit system and provided thousands of additional parking places outside the city centre, our correspondent adds. 
 
 Protesters also plan to surround key ministries and cut off their power supply in a bid to prevent them from functioning. About 150 schools have been told to close. 
 
 The protesters say they will remain in place for several days - but say they will not target public transport or the airports, which were closed for several days by anti-Thaksin protesters in 2008. 
 
 Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who was formerly a senior opposition party politician, described the movement as "a people's revolution". 
 
 Ms Yingluck was "no longer prime minister" in the eyes of the demonstrators, he told reporters on Monday. 
 
 Thailand's troubles Sep 2006: Army ousts Thaksin Shinawatra 
 
 Army ousts Thaksin Shinawatra Dec 2007: Pro-Thaksin party wins election 
 
 Pro-Thaksin party wins election Aug 2008: Thaksin flees Thailand 
 
 Thaksin flees Thailand Dec 2008: Huge anti-Thaksin protests; court bans ruling party; Abhisit Vejjajiva comes to power 
 
 Huge anti-Thaksin protests; court bans ruling party; Abhisit Vejjajiva comes to power Mar-May 2010: Huge pro-Thaksin protests; dozens killed in army crackdown 
 
 Huge pro-Thaksin protests; dozens killed in army crackdown Jul 2011: Yingluck Shinawatra elected PM 
 
 Yingluck Shinawatra elected PM Nov 2013: Anti-government protests 
 
 Anti-government protests Dec 2013: Ms Yingluck calls election 
 
 Coup fears 
 
 The government says it is deploying 8,000 soldiers and 10,000 police to keep order. 
 
 The military - which has carried out several coups in the past - has refused to rule out another one. Some fear an escalation of violence could lead to a military intervention. 
 
 The government has so far worked to avoid confrontation with the protesters. 
 
 Ms Yingluck had "ordered all police and military personnel to exercise utmost restraint and not to use all kinds of weapons in handling the protesters", the deputy prime minister said. 
 
 The political unrest is the worst to hit Thailand since the protests of 2010, which were against a government led by the current opposition party and left more than 90 people, mostly civilian protesters, dead. 
 
 The current protests began in November after Thailand's lower house passed a controversial amnesty bill which critics said could allow Mr Thaksin to return without serving time in jail for a corruption conviction. The bill was later rejected by the Senate. 
 
 Thailand remains bitterly divided over Mr Thaksin, one of the most polarising characters in Thai politics. 
 
 He is deeply unpopular with urban and middle class voters, but commands strong support in the rural communities his policies helped, with thousands of villages in north-east Thailand calling themselves "red villages" to indicate their loyalty to his party. ||||| Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators slept on the streets of Bangkok on Monday night, continuing a protest intended to force Thailand's Prime Minister from office, authorities said. 
 
 The protesters have laid siege to major intersections in Thailand's large and hectic capital city. At their peak on Monday evening, they numbered as many as 170,000, Lt. Gen. Paradon Pattanathabut, the nation's security chief, said Tuesday. 
 
 But many of the demonstrators have since returned to their homes in the Bangkok area, Paradon said. About 60,000 of them stayed out on the streets overnight, he said, sleeping under tents and mosquito nets. 
 
 The protesters, who aim to keep demonstrating for a month, occupied seven main intersections and blocked one government office on Monday. 
 
 They say they intend to march to several other ministries, close more intersections and cut off electricity and water supplies at some government offices. 
 
 It's all part of an effort dubbed "Bangkok shutdown." It's orchestrated by the People's Democratic Reform Committee protest group, led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister for the opposition Democrat Party. 
 
 Traffic disrupted 
 
 On Monday -- Day 1 -- students stayed at home as 140 schools were closed. In some places, protesters stopped cars from crossing blockades. 
 
 Many people used alternative routes or means of transportation to reach their destinations. 
 
 Though many areas of the city are unaffected, several of the rally sites are in popular tourist areas. 
 
 READ: Bangkok protests: Updated info for tourists 
 
 About 20,000 security personnel kept watch throughout the city. But so far, the shutdown has gone without serious incident. 
 
 The government has offered talks with protesters and other concerned parties to discuss a way out and way to postpone the election, but Suthep has rejected the offer. 
 
 Urging caution 
 
 Rights groups and others have called on Thai authorities and anti-government protesters to respect human rights and avoid violence during the mass demonstrations. 
 
 Since the anti-government protests began in November, eight people have died and 470 have been injured, authorities said. 
 
 "The situation in Thailand is tense, volatile and unpredictable," Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific deputy director, said last week. "There is a real risk of loss of life and injury unless human rights are fully respected." 
 
 READ: What's behind Bangkok's looming 'shutdown'? 
 
 U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday in New York that he had spoken by telephone with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva over the past three days "in an effort to help them bridge their differences." 
 
 Ban said he was "very concerned that the situation could escalate in the days ahead," particularly on Monday. 
 
 "I urge all involved to show restraint, avoid provocative acts and settle their differences peacefully, through dialogue," he said. 
 
 Abhisit has denied being a member of the PDRC but has appeared on stage and among the crowds at some of their demonstrations. 
 
 Travel warnings 
 
 In a bid to cool tensions, Yingluck dissolved the nation's parliament in December and called for new elections to be held on February 2. 
 
 But the move has done little to appease protesters. They have called on the Prime Minister to step down from her caretaker position and be replaced by an unelected "people's council," which would see through electoral and political reforms. 
 
 The national Election Commission has urged the government to postpone elections amid the continuing unrest. On Wednesday, Yingluck will meet with protest leaders and election commission officials to discuss whether to postpone, her office said. 
 
 Dozens of countries have issued travel advisories amid fears the tensions could erupt into violence. 
 
 The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok has urged U.S. citizens to avoid large gatherings in the city and to ensure they have a stock of cash and essential items in case the situation deteriorates. 
 
 "While protests have been generally peaceful over the last two months, some have resulted in injury and death," its online warning said. "Even demonstrations that are meant to be peaceful can turn confrontational, and can escalate into violence without warning." 
 
 The protest group said that on Monday, it would still allow ambulances to pass along the roads it intends to block, and that it would not block access to airports and public transportation. 
 
 Ambitious goal 
 
 Protest leaders have said they want to rid Thailand of the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the older brother of Yingluck. 
 
 That's an ambitious goal in a country where every election since 2001 has been won by parties affiliated with Thaksin, a billionaire who built his political success on populist policies that appealed to Thailand's rural heartland. 
 
 Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and has spent most of the time since then in exile overseas. If he returns, he risks a two-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction, which he says was politically motivated. 
 
 The recent protests in Bangkok were prompted by a botched attempt by Yingluck's government to pass an amnesty bill that would have opened the door for her brother's return. 
 
 That move added fuel for critics who accuse her of being nothing more than her brother's puppet, an allegation she has repeatedly denied. 
 
 Opposition to Thaksin and Yingluck is strongest among the urban elites and middle class, particularly in Bangkok. 
 
 Thaksin's traditional support comes from the populous rural areas of north and northeast Thailand. 
 
 His supporters, known as "red shirts," plan to hold demonstrations in various places in Thailand, but not the capital or south of the country, on Sunday. They support the holding of elections on February 2. 
 
 READ: Thailand braces for looming Bangkok 'shut down' 
 
 READ: Opinion: Prognosis for divided Thailand bleak, but why? 
 
 READ: CNN Money: Thailand protests highlight risks in Asia
– Protesters aiming to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and put democracy in Thailand on hold have shut down Bangkok by building barricades and blocking key road junctions. Some 18,000 security personnel have been deployed to maintain order and there have been no serious incidents so far, but there are fears of renewed violence and protest leaders have vowed to reject any attempt at negotiation, reports the BBC. Yingluck has called for new elections next month but the protesters are demanding that the government be replaced by an unelected "people's council" to carry out reforms, CNN reports. "The situation in Thailand is tense, volatile, and unpredictable," an Amnesty International spokeswoman warns. "There is a real risk of loss of life and injury unless human rights are fully respected." The US Embassy has urged Americans to avoid large gatherings in Bangkok and to stockpile essential items.