Thai anti-government protesters stepped up security at their base in an upmarket Bangkok shopping center on Saturday, a week after bloody clashes with security forces killed 24 people.
A failed attempt by security forces last weekend to flush thousands of anti-government protesters from the historic district of the capital erupted into the worse political violence the country has seen in two decades. At least 24 people were killed and 800 wounded.
Leader of the Red shirt protestors escape from the hotel embrassing the military.
Thailand's beleaguered government insisted it had no plan for an immediate crackdown on protesters despite handing over security operations to the army chief, saying Saturday too many people are camped in central Bangkok to use force.
Since then, the protesters have consolidated in Bangkok's main business and hotel neighborhood and calls have mounted for a harder government stance against the demonstrators whose presence is scaring away tourists and rattling the stock market.
Despite a Saturday morning downpour, thousands of protesters maintained their base in the Rajprasong shopping area and vowed to stay until they bring down Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government. They held a Buddhist ceremony to pay respects to those killed in last Saturday's clashes, with pictures of the dead displayed on a protest stage as monks chanted blessings.
Abhisit abruptly put his army chief, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, in charge of security operations late Friday after a botched police attempt to arrest leaders of the protesters, who are known as the Red Shirts. One protest leader escaped from a hotel balcony by rope, while at least two others took the stairs, to escape a police raid that the deputy prime minister had announced on television just minutes earlier.
While the army chief's new powers prompted speculation that the government was planning a crackdown, government spokesman Panitan Wattanyagorn appeared to rule out imminent force against the crowd. He noted the strategic difficulties of removing protesters from a congested part of the city that includes luxury hotels and some of Bangkok's fanciest shops.
"People want this settled quickly, but the authorities also face their limitations," Panitan told The Associated Press. "There are a lot of people out there, and we cannot do anything harsh."
"Some newspapers have reported that now the government plans to use force again. This is not true," Panitan said. "The use of force to disperse the protesters was not in the order (given to Anupong)."
Panitan said the government's primary goal is to identify "terrorists" it says have infiltrated the Red Shirt organization and orchestrated violence last Saturday. The government says some protesters used "war weapons" in the clashes that broke out with security forces.
Protesters on Thursday vacated the site of the deadly clashes and shifted to their second encampment in the Rajprasong shopping area, home to gleaming malls and several luxury hotels that have been under virtual siege for more than two weeks.
The Red Shirt protesters say they are bracing for a final showdown in their campaign to oust Abhisit, dissolve Parliament and call new elections. Different protest leaders offer conflicting calls for how to resolve the crisis.
"The Abhisit government is now struggling for its last breath as the finale looms," Weng Tojirakan, one of the Red Shirt's more moderate leaders, told supporters Saturday. "I urge you all to adhere to a nonviolent approach. Soon we will win."
One of the group's most militant leaders, Arisman Pongruangrong, has a more aggressive tone.
Arisman has gained hero status among the Reds after his Hollywood-style escape from police on Friday. A former pop singer and heartthrob, he repelled from a third-floor hotel balcony into the waiting arms of cheering supporters who whisked him away and briefly took two senior police officers hostage.
"From now on our mission is to hunt down Abhisit," Arisman said after his escape. "This is a war between the government and the Red Shirts."
Police have issued 24 arrest warrants for Red Shirt leaders it accuses of inciting violence. So far none have been arrested.
One protest leader Nattawut Saikua told supporters Saturday that protest leaders would surrender to police on May 15, after they had achieved their goal of bringing down the government.
Thousands of Red Shirts, mostly rural poor, have congregated in Bangkok since March 12. They consist mainly of supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and pro-democracy activists who opposed the bloodless military coup that ousted him in 2006. Thaksin is living in overseas exile to avoid a two-year prison term for corruption.
They believe Abhisit heads an illegitimate government because it came to power in December 2008 through parliamentary procedure, replacing an elected pro-Thaksin administration. The conflict has been characterized by some as class warfare, pitting the country's vast rural poor against an elite that has traditionally held power.
Thousands of protesters gathered under leaden skies to commemorate the deaths as more permanent fixtures of medical supplies, sanitary facilities and foodstalls were set up.
The "red shirts" have pledged to turn the area into a "final battleground" to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, forcing high-end malls to close and sending tourists fleeing the area.
Abhisit said he would crack down on violent elements among protesters whom he calls "terrorists" and on Friday put his army chief in charge of security operations at the expense of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban after a bungled attempt to arrest red shirt leaders.
However, he made no indication there would be immediate attempt to dislodge the protesters, calling for patience.
"There has been more talk of crackdown and possible attempts to take us in, so we have to make sure we are not infiltrated," protest leader Nattawut Saikua said, adding that the red shirts had no plans to march on Saturday and Sunday.
The red shirt leaders would make new sleeping arrangements at undisclosed locations, Nattawut said, as leaders recruited more volunteers among protesters to become their "guards."
The heightened security came after some leaders were surrounded by police on Friday morning. One made an escape by climbing down a hotel by rope, making headlines and highlighting security forces' failure at crowd control.
The red shirts back former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and want Abhisit to call snap elections, something the Oxford-educated premier has refused to do.
They threatened to march to a nearby business district on Monday, targeting Bangkok Bank's headquarters.
"We are considering taking our fight to a business associated with the ruling elite," said a leader Suporn Attawong.
Thailand's biggest bank was targeted in February by the protesters who accused it of crony capitalism amid ties to Prem Tinsulanonda, a former premier and chief adviser of Thailand's revered king.
Prem, an honorary adviser to the bank's chairman, is also accused of playing a role in the coup against Thaksin, accusations which he has repeatedly denied.
The political crisis in Thailand has hit tourism, a mainstay of Southeast Asia's second largest economy, hard and caused a selloff in the stock market which has given up almost all of this year's gains as foreign investors have sold heavily.
Protesters held a Buddhist ceremony to mark last weekend's clashes. Leaders gave monks alms and flowers, asking for blessings on behalf of their late comrades.
Although Bangkok was quiet seven days after the bloody clashes in which 19 protesters and 5 soldiers were killed and more than 800 people wounded, few expect a peaceful or fast resolution of the conflict.
Supporters of the government came out in thousands to express their disapproval of the red shirts on Friday.
Adding to the risk of clashes among civilians, an anti-Thaksin protest group known as the "yellow shirts," who in 2008 occupied Bangkok airport, said they would meet on Sunday to discuss their next move.
GOVT LOOKS TO ARMY
Abhisit made the first appearance on national television in four days on Friday from a fortified barracks on the outskirts of Bangkok, putting army chief General Anupong Paochinda in charge of security operations.
The move appeared to bind Anupong, who retires in September, into the government after he had expressed reluctance to use force, calling for the crisis to be resolved with "political solutions."
"A lot of people are losing patience and they are blaming the government for its failure to end this," said Sombat Thamrongthanyawong of the National Institute of Development Administration.
"At the same time, the government cannot do anything without the army's wholehearted backing to go in and crack down. So it's a continued paralysis that undermines the government's popularity and credibility," he said.
The seemingly intractable crisis has fueled speculation that hardliners within the powerful military may decide to stage a coup to end the impasse, a move which analysts say would likely backfire with possibly violent response from the red shirts.
Coup rumors abound during each round of crisis in Thailand which has seen 18 successful coups since 1932.
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