DOWNTOWN BANGKOK remained in lockdown yesterday after the Thai government rejected a peace proposal from demonstrators offering to end increasingly deadly protests if the prime minister dissolves parliament and calls elections.
The protests, which have become increasingly violent over the past seven weeks, demonstrate how close the country is to civil war. There has been no major breakthrough in the deadlock, during which Bangkok’s shopping precincts and financial district have been occupied by red-shirted anti-government protesters, rendering normal life in the capital impossible.
Soldiers armed with assault rifles are still facing off against so-called “red shirts” armed with sharpened bamboo poles and rocks at the busy Silom thoroughfare in downtown Bangkok, a city of 15 million people.
Tensions reached a new high on Thursday when one person was killed and more than 80 were injured in grenade attacks, which the government believes came from a southern corner of Bangkok’s Lumpini Park behind the red shirts’ main barricade. The red shirts deny any involvement.
The attack followed a failed effort to crack down on the protesters on April 10th which left 25 dead and hundreds injured. One of the red shirts’ demands is for an investigation into the incident.
Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva warned the protesters that he would retake a fortified encampment set up by anti-government protesters at Silom Road and the Ratchaprasong shopping district.
Tellingly, he said this on national television alongside the head of the Thai army, Gen Anupong Paojinda, but he did not say when or how it would be done.
Mr Abhisit has stuck to a conciliatory approach until now, so his decision to reject the offer by the red shirts to end the protests if he dissolves parliament within 30 days is surprising. They had previously called for immediate dissolution.
The presence of the army chief at Mr Abhisit’s shoulder is significant, as speculation abounds that the army is sharply divided and its loyalties unclear. Meanwhile, Mr Abhisit’s six-party coalition government is under pressure from upper-class and royalist Thais to take a stern line with the protesters.
“There will be a retaking of Ratchaprasong but the process, the measure, how and when it will be done we cannot disclose because it depends on several things,” he said. “The main point now is not whether or not to disperse but how to solve the whole problem.”
The red shirts have threatened to expand their occupation of the district to the Central World mall, Asia’s second-biggest shopping complex, which is right beside the zone they are occupying.
Resolving the fundamental issues is crucial if Thailand is to avoid civil war. The red shirts support former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, but who was democratically elected with a strong majority.
Mr Abhisit’s government, meanwhile, was brought to power with assistance from the military. The red shirts say his government is illegitimate.