Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva says no to deal with Red Shirts

THAILAND's embattled prime minister yesterday rejected a compromise with "Red Shirt" demonstrators to end weeks of increasingly violent protests.

Abhisit Vejjajiva turned down overtures from the campaigners, who said they were willing to end demonstrations that have effectively shut down Bangkok in return for early elections.

On Friday the Red Shirts, supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, offered to end a three-week occupation of one of Bangkok's shopping districts if the government dissolved parliament and announced elections in 30 days, softening a previous demand for an immediate dissolution.

Asked if he accepted the proposal, Abhisit last night replied: "No, I don't. They keep saying they will escalate the situation. That's why the government cannot consider the proposal."

Analysts yesterday said Abhisit, despite military backing, was running out of options after weeks of unrest by protesters who have gained a clear upper hand.

Pitch Pongsawat, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said: "There doesn't seem to be any real control about what's been happening on the streets."

The violence and deepening political divide have spurred talk of civil war in South-east Asia's second-biggest economy.

The United Nations and foreign governments have urged both sides of the political divide to show restraint after two incidents of street violence killed 26 and injured hundreds.

The central bank said the crisis was hitting confidence, tourism, private consumption and investment.