Anti-government protesters stormed Thailand's parliament Wednesday, smashing through the gates with a truck, as mass demonstrations caused chaos in Bangkok's tourist hub for a fifth day.

Thousands of red-shirted demonstrators, many of whom support fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, caused lawmakers to flee as they massed outside parliament's gates as part of their protests aimed at forcing snap elections.

Hundreds of protesters later forced their way into the parliament compound, where the lower house session had already been suspended because of the low number of lawmakers present.

"They used a truck to break the gate, but so far there is no violence yet," said Pitoon Pumhiran, secretary general of the House of Representatives, adding that police officers were guarding parliament.

When he learnt that the reds were approaching, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva left a cabinet meeting there for a military barracks in the city's northern outskirts, where he has been based for much of the weeks-long protest.

The cabinet extended a tough security law Wednesday as protesters refused to leave Bangkok's main commercial district, where they have been since Saturday, and vowed to march to the premier's house.

The demonstrators are mostly from Thailand's poor and working class and see Abhisit's government as elitist and undemocratic.

- AFP