Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters marched through the streets of Thailand’s capital Saturday, reviving their whistle-blowing, traffic-blocking campaign to try to force the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The administration of Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has faced protests since October 2013. The protesters claim the administration has bought votes, and these activists have vowed to disrupt polling stations. In a precursor to today's elections, a gun battle broke out in front a Lak Si District officer where anti-government protesters set up an encampment in front of a building holding election ballots.

The voice on the radio is calm, its message anything but. “Civil war is going to happen,” says the announcer on a station broadcast across the arid plateau around Khon Kaen, where rice paddies, cane fields and fishing-net factories form the geographic heart of the country’s red-shirt movement. It is now preparing to fight back if the government it supports, under caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, falls. “All sides, get ready,” the voice says. “We are ready to come together any time in the name of democracy.”

Thailand's prime minister said she cannot comply with demands by the anti-government opposition because they are unconstitutional. In a televised news conference on Monday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra confirmed that she met with anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban late Sunday. She said the meeting was held under the auspices of the military, which has maintained that it is neutral in the conflict.