Thai Protesters Block Polling Stations in Bangkok Anti-government demonstrators trying to derail a contentious general election scheduled next week in Thailand swarmed dozens of polling stations Sunday, chaining doors and gates shut and blocking hundreds of thousands of voters from casting advance ballots in the latest blow to the country's increasingly embattled government. The chaos underscored the increasing powerlessness of Prime Minister Yingluck's administration, which had called the Feb. 2 vote in a failed bid to ease months of street protests that have thrown the nation into crisis. Police took no action to disperse the crowds, following longstanding government orders that appear aimed at efforts to avoid triggering a military coup. Although disruptions were expected in Bangkok and the opposition stronghold in southern Thailand, voting Sunday was likely to go ahead unhindered in the majority of the country. About 49 million of the nation's 64 million people are eligible to cast ballots, and 2.16 million applied for advance voting. The outcome of Sunday's balloting is seen as a harbinger for the main poll, which both the Election Commission and demonstrators want postponed. Ruling party officials suggested over the weekend that they were willing to delay the ballot - but only if protests end and the main opposition party abandons its boycott. There has been no sign yet that Yingluck's rivals would agree to any deal, however. In Bangkok on Sunday, swarms of protesters waving the Thai flag blocked electoral officials, ballot boxes and voters from getting inside polling centers, and electoral officials closed 34 of them as a result. In the south, 11 voting stations were also forced to shut, bringing the total number closed to 45 out of 152 nationwide, electoral officials said. The protest movement, known as the People's Democratic Reform Committee, said it was not obstructing the poll in a statement on its Facebook page. The group reiterated comments late Saturday by its leader, former lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, that "supporters are simply protesting the advance polls held today by surrounding/standing in front of election units." Protest spokesman Akanat Promphan told The Associated Press that those who had locked the gates of polling stations had "acted on their own." But he did not condemn them and said only that any decision to close stations was made by Election Commission officials. The protesters are pushing for Yingluck's government to be replaced by a non-elected 'people's council' that would implement anti-corruption reforms before a new vote can take place. They accuse Yingluck's government of carrying on the practices of her billionaire brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister they allege used the family fortune and state funds to influence voters and subvert democracy. Even before Sunday's advance voting, there had been increasing doubt that the Feb. 2 poll would go ahead.