Thailand: Bloodied 'red shirts' reject talks and vow to fight on for poll

THAI "red shirt" protesters ruled out negotiations with the government yesterday and said they would not give up their fight for early elections a day after clashes with security forces killed 21 people.

Bangkok was quiet yesterday, but with no resolution in sight the prospect of more violence remains.

"The time for negotiation is up. We don't negotiate with murderers," red shirt leader Weng Tojirakarn said. "We have to keep fighting."

The red shirts, mostly rural and working-class supporters of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was removed in a coup in 2006, want prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and leave the country, the scene of 18 coups since 1932.

Saturday's fighting, the worst political violence in the country since 1992 and some of it in well-known Bangkok tourist areas, ended after security forces pulled back late in the night.

The red shirts, numbering in the thousands, have occupied two main areas of the capital – a city of 15 million under a state of emergency since Wednesday.

Thai political historian Charnvit Kasertsiri said the violence was worrying because there was no outright win for either side and the chance of more fighting was high.

"The public didn't take it lying down and were responding in kind," he said.

"When the government is no longer the only user of force, then it spirals into anarchy."

A government spokesman said there was a line of communication with the red shirts but conditions were not right for formal talks.

"As long as they are still breaking the law, that makes it difficult," spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said. "We are not opposed to talking if it will solve the problems."

The red shirts seemed in no mood to compromise. Thai media said around 500 red shirts had again forced their way into the grounds of a Thaicom satellite earth station north of Bangkok, a flash point on Friday when the authorities blocked an opposition TV station.

Other reports said a grenade was fired at the headquarters of army-owned Channel 5 TV station in the northern province of Phayao early on Sunday.

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters forced their way into government offices in two northern cities, raising the risk of a larger uprising against the 16-month-old, army-backed government.

"There is no precedent for something so massive, prolonged and disruptive on the part of the underclasses," said Federico Ferrara, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore.

"The people who are leading the protest now are people whose right to participate in government has never been fully recognised, hence the coups that have removed governments elected by the provincial electorate."

The protesters say Mr Abhisit lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote following a court ruling that dissolved a pro-Thaksin ruling party.