Protesters led by former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban set up blockades and encampments at major road junctionsIf you are taking part in the protests, share your images and stories – but remember your safety is most important

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters are occupying parts of central Bangkok, meeting no resistance from the authorities.

Police and soldiers maintained a low profile as the "shutdown Bangkok" drive got under way in Thailand's capital. The mood was festive, with many protesters singing and dancing in the streets.

Led by former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban, thousands of protesters have set up permanent barricades and encampments at seven sites across the city. Major intersections that normally teem with cars and trucks are blockaded, but city trains and river ferries have been operating, most shops are open and motorbikes have plied the roads freely.

"Don't ask me how long this occupation will last," Thaugsuban said in a speech to supporters carried by the movement's BlueSky television channel. "We will not stop until we win."

Suthep – a career politician who has led the People's Democratic Reform Committee against Yingluck Shinawatra's government for the past two months in a bid to rid the country of corruption - has threatened to shut down Bangkok for up to 20 days in order to replace Yingluck's caretaker government with an unelected people's council.

This so-called Bangkok shutdown is the latest move by Suthep and his largely urban, elite followers, who have been calling since November for an end to the "Thaksin regime" – a reference to Yingluck's brother and former prime minister Thaksin, a hugely divisive leader who won over poor northern farmers with his rice subsidy and healthcare schemes, but fell foul of Bangkok's elite, who hated the telecoms tycoon's cronyism and money politics.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and now lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid corruption charges. Yet he is considered to be the man pulling the strings behind the current government, and any new elections – such as those most recently called for 2 February, which the opposition Democrat party has already boycotted – will more than likely see a return of the popular Pheu Thai party to power.

Yingluck on Monday invited leaders of anti-government protesters and political parties to discuss a proposal to push back the date of the election. Ministers have until now said a delay would be impossible under the constitution, but the Election Commission has said it could be pushed back and one member has suggested 4 May.

Suthep, who served as deputy PM after Thaksin was ousted, has called the shutdown the protesters' last battle – a term he has admittedly used multiple times before – but vowed in an interview on Sunday that it would be non-violent and to call off his protest if civil war were instigated.

Yet violence remains a real threat, with businesses grounding employees and embassies worried about a return of the 2011 rioting that saw storefronts burned to the ground, 100 people killed and about 2,000 injured during similar anti-government protests. Even army commander General Prayuth Chan-ocha has not ruled out the possibility of a military coup, and 10,000 police and 8,000 soldiers have been deployed to maintain security across the city.

Yet observers say that – for a country that has seen 18 actual or attempted coups since 1932 – the army has been remarkably reserved throughout this so-called "people's coup". They point to past military intervention – such as in 2006 and 1991 – as proof that the army may have learned that coups can often lead to prolonged political and civil unrest.

"The army is fighting tooth and nail from intervening and rolling out the tanks," said political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak. "So short of a direct army intervention, something is likely to give in the coming days, because the deadlock will intensify and become unbearable, untenable."

At least eight people have been killed so far in the latest political unrest, with the US embassy in Bangkok issuing a statement to citizens recommending that they stock at least one week's supply of cash and two weeks' worth of food, water and medicine.