Thai PM rejects protesters' call for new elections
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's prime minister, backed by a formidable military force, rejected an ultimatum to dissolve Parliament on Monday as tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters vowed to splatter the seat of government with their own blood if their demands weren't met.
Organizers of the demonstrations in the Thai capital said they're requesting that thousands of protesters donate a small amount of blood to meet their stated goal of 1 million cubic centimeters, or more than 260 gallons (980 liters).
"The blood will be taken from the body and democratic soul of the Red Shirts," said a protest leader, Natthawut Saikua, referring to the popular name for the protesters. He said they would start recruiting medical staff for the blood drive Tuesday morning.
They threatened to pour the blood on Government House if their renewed demand was rejected by 6 p.m. Tuesday (7 a.m. EDT, 1100 GMT).
A Red Cross official expressed concern over the hygiene of drawing blood from so many people and noted that such a large quantity "could save a lot of lives," if it weren't destined to be spilled. Organizers planned to draw between two and 20 teaspoons of blood — 10 to 100 cubic centimeters — from each donor. That would require between 10,000 and 100,000 people — roughly the crowd's peak size — to participate.
In the first reported violence of the protests, two soldiers were wounded when four grenades exploded inside the compound of the 1st Infantry Regiment, known as the King's Own Bodyguard, said army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
He did not blame the demonstrators, who were not in the area, but said there has been intelligence that some elements had been planning such attacks. The grenades were fired from an M-79 launcher, he said.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the key target of the massive demonstration, earlier said he could not give in to the protesters' demand to dissolve Parliament by midday but left room for compromise.
The demonstrators marshaled around the heavilydefended 11th Infantry Regiment headquarters where Abhisit has been hunkered down in recent days, but after the deadline passed they began a march back to their main encampment.
"Asking for the dissolution of Parliament before noon in exchange for a halt to the demonstrations, we all agreed it can't be done. However, it doesn't mean the government coalition parties and I won't listen to their ideas," Abhisit said on nationwide television.
The protesters believe Abhisit took office illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional ruling class who were alarmed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's popularity, particularly among the poor. Thaksin, who became prime minister in 2001 and whose party easily won two elections, was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and abuse of power.
Some 100,000 Red Shirt protesters had been camped out along a boulevard in the old part of Bangkok, though there number had visibly fallen Monday. A force of more than 50,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel has been mobilized in the capital area.
With banners waving, thousands of the protesters piled into trucks, rode motorcycles or trudged on foot toward the barbed-wire ringed regimental compound where soldiers played songs composed by the Thai king in a bid to keep things calm. They left a few hours later.
The troops guarding the headquarters were in full combat gear, but no weapons were visible except short-barreled rifles for firing tear gas.
City authorities feared traffic chaos in areas of the sprawling capital, but in other quarters, traffic was surprisingly light as many office workers stayed home for fear of violence. Some international schools were closed.
The protesters, formally grouped as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, have been flexible in their tactics and deadlines, but are demanding Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call new elections, which they believe will restore their political allies to power.
For a second straight day, Thaksin spoke to the demonstrators by video, urging them to continue their struggle in a nonviolent fashion.
Where his remarks Sunday stressed the struggle between his supporters and what he described as Thailand's "ammart," or ruling elite, Thaksin broadened his appeal Monday to ask that lawmakers, soldiers, policemen, judges and members of the bureaucracy join the Red Shirt cause.
Thaksin, who said he was speaking from Europe, told his supporters: "Patience and unity are the key to success, so please don't give up. Be patient for a little longer. United we stand, divided we lose."
Thaksin is a billionaire businessman who fled Thailand in 2008 ahead of a conviction on a conflict of interest charge for which he was sentenced to two years in jail.
The Red Shirts' last major protest in Bangkok last April left two people dead, more than 120 people injured and buses burned on major thoroughfares before the army quashed the unrest.
Thailand has been in constant political turmoil since early 2006, when anti-Thaksin demonstrations began. In 2008, when Thaksin's political allies came back to power for a year, his opponents occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months and seized Bangkok's two airports for a week.
