Tens of thousands of opposition activists have marched through Bangkok to demand a new election in Thailand.

Police in the capital city estimated 65,000 protestors, many wearing red shirts, assembled in to an eight-mile long convoy and completed a 28-mile route, handing out leaflets saying: “We love Bangkokians”.

Waving flags and shaking clappers, they formed a procession of motorcycles and overloaded pickup trucks, cheering, beeping horns and shaking hands with crowds that lined the streets.

The anti-government campaigners are supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the one-time owner of Manchester City. Shinawatra, a self-exiled former telecommunications tycoon, was ousted in a coup and convicted of corruption in his absence.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s has avoided his office, parliament and his home for security reasons and spent another day at a fortified military compound.

Some motorcyclists shouted: “Abhisit - get out." Others held aloft pictures of Thaksin and shouted: “Fight, fight”.

Shinawatra is said to be the assumed leader and financier of the opposition movement and has called the campaign a “class war”.

The Oxford-educated prime minister Abhisit has refused to bow to demands for a new election, claiming the country is too divided to go to the polls.

He told a Thailand news channel: “My question is what is the standpoint of the 'red shirts'? Democracy or Thaksin? If the answer is democracy, we can talk.”

He has agreed to hold talks with protestors, with a preliminary meeting planned for tomorrow or Monday.

The protestors launched a week-long rally last Sunday, which drew up to 150,000 people. The protests have so far been peaceful and have helped lift Thai stocks to a 20-month high.

Protest leaders have said they will remain in the capital for at least two more weeks.