BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) — Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of a military coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

About 30,000 protesters, who wore red shirts in support of Thaksin, gathered in the country’s capital near the Government House, said police Lt. Gen. Tritote Ronnarithvichai. The crowd was calm and there was no sign of violence, he said.

The demonstration was expected to end by midnight.

Thaksin, who served two terms as prime minister, was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006 while he was in New York attending a United Nations summit.

He remains well-liked among people in northern Thailand because of his populist policies.

Separately on Saturday, members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, an anti-Thaksin group, clashed with local residents in the northeastern province of Sisaket, near the disputed Preah Vihear border with Cambodia, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayakorn said.

(CNN)