In pictures: Bangkok protests

Protests against the Thai government have escalated after protesters occupied several government buildings in Bangkok.

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators raided the foreign affairs and finance ministries on Monday, and besieged several other ministries on Tuesday.

The protests are a response to the government’s attempt to pass a controversial amnesty law that would have facilitated the return of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, a former prime minister himself, remains a deeply polarising figure in Thai politics since his overthrow in a military coup seven years ago, and is seen by many as the government’s real decision-maker from his exile in Dubai.

This is Thailand’s biggest wave of protests since tens of thousands of Thaksin supporters took to the streets in 2010.

The demonstrators currently in the streets have said they aim to topple the government.

The protests are led by Suthep Thaugsuban, former deputy prime minister, who currently remains on the grounds of the Finance Ministry in defiance of an arrest warrant issued against him.