Thai red shirts protest at Chiang Mai governor's office

BANGKOK, April 10 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Thai red shirt protesters forced their way into the governor's office compound in the northern city of Chiang Mai on Saturday in protest over a crackdown on their movement in the capital, a witness said.

The red shirts had vowed that they would besiege governors' offices in the provinces if there was a crackdown on their one-month-old protest in the capital for fresh elections. About 50 police were at the scene but did not intervene.

Thai troops fired rubber bullets at protesters in Bangkok as they moved in to clear one protest site in the biggest confrontation in the campaign.

(Reporting by Damir Sagolj and Ambika Ahuja; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Alan Raybould)

(([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]; )) Keywords: THAILAND/CHIANGMAI (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.