Red shirts seek cease-fire

A resident runs in a street near the Ding Daeng intersection in Bangkok Monday. Thousands of protesters in the Thai capital defied a deadline to leave their fortified encampment despite the threat of a crackdown after street clashes left at least 35 people dead. Photo: AFP

By Guo Qiang

Thailand's red-shirt protesters defied a government deadline for leaving the demonstration zone in downtown Bangkok by Monday afternoon, but Thai authorities extended their ultimatum for people moving out of the fortified encampment.

Acting government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said Monday that the govern-ment's main focus is to convince women, children and the elderly to leave the Rajprasong rally site, according to the website of Thailand-based The Nation newspaper.

The ultimatum, issued by the Center for the Resolutions of Emergency Situation, ordered red shirts to leave their protest zone by 3 pm (local time) Monday, but protesters appeared to be reluctant to move out. Police said an estimated 5,000 people remained, with some seen dancing despite the threat of forced dispersal.

Weng Tochirakarn, a core leader of the red shirts, told the Global Times by phone that they would not leave the rally site unless the government soldiers stop fighting.

"The protest is still going on. The government must withdraw all soldiers and come to the negotiation table. Let the UN be witness to the negotiation," he said, adding that continued protests will put pressure on the government to stop its crackdown.

Late last night, red-shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar telephoned Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's secretary-general, Korbsak Sabhavasu, to propose a truce, AFP reported.

Nattawut offered to call protesters back to the main protest camp from outlying areas, where fierce street battles have occurred, Korbsak said.

"If he calls protesters back to the Ratchaprasong site (the main rally base) and stops the action around Bangkok, there will be no more bullets fired by soldiers. Soldiers have not invaded the protest site," Korbsak said.

Violence since Friday left 35 people dead, including a soldier. The clash turned parts of the city into no-go zones as troops used live ammunition against protesters, who have blocked streets with burning tires and fought back, mainly with homemade weapons.

The government has repeatedly said that the troops would not shoot at innocent people, as their targets are the armed red-shirt protesters, whom the government has dubbed "terrorists."

The Thai government has offered to resume talks between red-shirt leaders if they abandon the Rajprasong rally site and stop rioting and "attacking troops and innocent people," according to spokesman Panithan.

His words were in response to the latest demand by the red-shirt leader, Nuttawut Saikua, who asked the troops to stop "shooting on people," and for the government to withdraw the army com-pletely and resume the peace talks.

Thawil Pliensee, secretary-general of the National Security Council, told Reuters that "We will keep sending warnings to protesters and will slowly step up pressure if they don't go," adding that there was no immediate plan to clear the main camp by force.

Those refusing to leave the rally site face a two-year jail term, authorities have warned.