DHAKA: Tensions were high in Bangkok on the eve of controversial elections in politically-divided Thailand Saturday as opposition protesters sought to block ballot boxes being distributed in several parts of the country.

Thailand is gearing up to stage touchpaper polls on Sunday despite a boycott by the main opposition party and disruption from demonstrators bent on preventing the likely re-election of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Scores of protesters laid siege to a ballot box distribution centre in Bangkok, which has seen weeks of rallies by a loose coalition opposed to Yingluck and the enduring influence of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier ousted by the military in 2006.

Police sought to separate the demonstrators from a group of some 200 government supporters, some armed with sticks and metal bars, as tensions rose in the capital which has seen several outbreaks of violence since the protests began.

‘The government is corrupt. If we let the vote go on then they will come back, so we should not hold the election,’ said opposition protester Sirames, who gave only one name, at the Lak Si district office in northern Bangkok, one of 50 in the capital.

He said the group planned to block roads around the building until voting ends on Sunday afternoon.

BDST: 1616 HRS, FEB 01, 2014