Bangkok ( CNN ) -- Anti-government protesters in Thailand have stormed the offices of the country 's finance ministry , as mass demonstrations raise political tensions to the highest level since the deadly unrest of 2010 . Anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban , a former deputy prime minister under the previous Democrat-led government , led the group of protesters who entered the ministry compound , in the protesters ' boldest act since demonstrations broke out three weeks ago . Sunai Phasuk , a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch , told CNN the compound had been taken over by protesters , pockets of whom had become increasingly hostile to local and foreign media . He said a German photographer had earlier been attacked during a protest at the headquarters of the Royal Thai Police Monday morning , where thousands of demonstrators had called for an audience with police bosses . `` We demand to meet with Police Commissioner-General Adul Saengsingkaew , '' protest leader Puttipong Punnakun told CNN . More than three weeks of anti-government protests led by the opposition Democrat Party rose to a crescendo Sunday as about 100,000 demonstrators turned out in Bangkok , and escalated Monday as leaders vowed to extend their rallies to government offices , TV networks and military installations . Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra responded by extending the areas around Bangkok where police are enforcing an internal security law that restricts gatherings by demonstrators . `` What has been going on now is affecting people 's livelihoods and orderliness , as well as disrupting services at government offices , '' she said Monday . `` Therefore it is necessary for the government to enforce the law . '' The government had imposed the security measures in central Bangkok several weeks ago . But the law has n't so far been strictly enforced . Thaugsuban told demonstrators gathered Sunday of plans to march on media outlets and government buildings Monday , calling on civil servants to join the cause . `` We will separate into 13 groups to march to 13 locations to express our stance , '' he said . `` Our protest will not stop until Thaksin 's regime is wiped out . '' Protest leaders are calling for an end to the government of Yingluck , sister of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra , the telecommunications tycoon who was ousted in a 2006 coup . Critics of the Thai prime minister accuse her of being a puppet of her older brother Thaksin , a deeply polarizing figure who was removed from power by the military while in New York in 2006 . He has since lived in exile , except for a brief return in 2008 , and was convicted by Thai courts for corruption and sentenced in absentia to two years in jail later that year . The current protests have reanimated the tensions along Thailand 's political faultlines -- Thaksin Shinawatra 's mostly rural support base on one side , the Bangkok-based elite and middle classes on the other -- that left the country wracked with turbulence for four years after the 2006 coup , culminating in a 2010 army crackdown on Thaksin supporters that left more than 90 dead . An estimated 40,000 pro-government `` red shirts '' -- many from the rural areas -- gathered in a Bangkok stadium Sunday in a show of support for the embattled prime minister , who came to power in a 2011 election . The current round of protests was triggered in response to a government-backed amnesty bill that could have extended a pardon to Thaksin Shinawatra and opened the door for his return to Thailand . The Thai senate rejected the amnesty bill on November 11 , but since then demonstrations have only grown , with Suthep calling for the current government to be replaced by a new administration . Yingluck Shinawatra has responded to the escalating situation with a call for unity , reconciliation and respect for law . `` The government has instructed police and all security officers to handle the situation gently , based on international practices , so the demonstration wo n't be used as a tool by people who want to make changes in a non-democratic way , '' she said in a statement on her official Facebook page . More than a dozen countries have issued travel warnings for citizens to avoid areas near protests in Bangkok .
NEW : The Prime Minister broadens internal security measures . Anti-government protesters in Thailand have marched on government offices . Sunday 's 100,000 turnout was country 's biggest demonstration since deadly 2010 stand-off . Comment: