Thai protesters cancel march to avert clashes

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai anti-government activists cancelled plans to stage protests at nearly a dozen no-go zones across Bangkok on Tuesday but continued their siege of the capital's upmarket shopping and hotel district.


Soldiers stand guard as supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra rally in the main shopping district of Bangkok April 6, 2010. (REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom)
The protesters, who are demanding new elections, called off the proposed parade through the city after thousands of riot police and soldiers came out to block them, saying they wanted to avoid clashes.

After some brief pushing and shoving between police and the red-shirted supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the plan was scrapped. Some protesters cheered, others smiled and hugged police officers.

However, police made no attempt to remove the tens of thousands of protesters from the major intersection in the Rachaprasong shopping and hotel district which they have occupied since Saturday. "There won't be any movements today," Kwanchai Praiphana, a protest leader, told the crowd. "If there is a crackdown, we will send over our people to the Democrat party", he said, referring to the party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The army moved swiftly to dismiss talk that the protesters would be forcibly moved.

"The rally is illegal, but there will be no crackdown. We will review our measures," army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said in an national televised address.

The plan to move out in a convoy of motorcycles and pickup trucks on Tuesday's public holiday came as pressure mounted on Abhisit Vejjajiva to take action and put a swift end to the 25-day protest campaign.

However, a rally that is broadening, intensifying and showing no signs of fizzling out has not dampened the mood of foreign investors who have pumped more than $1.6 billion into Thailand's stock market since Feb. 22.

The mass rally has lasted longer than many expected and leaves Abhisit with a dilemma about how to respond: anger Bangkok's middle classes and parts of his own government by doing nothing, or risk confrontation by forcibly moving protesters defying the law but yet to resort to violence.

UNENVIABLE POSITION

The decision to block, but not remove the protesters, is likely to be seen as only a quick fix by Abhisit. Protesters insisted they would continue to occupy the intersection in the shopping district, which vital for high-end tourism and businesses.

Analysts said Abhisit is now in an unenviable position, pressured to take tough action but determined to avoid clashes.

"A lot of Abhisit's legitimacy is based on the notion that he is a stabilising force for Thailand. This puts him in a very difficult position," said Andrew Walker, a Thailand researcher at Australia National University.

"If he cracks down and there is violence, the image of stability is shattered."

The mostly rural movement has recruited followers among migrant workers and working classes in the capital, to the annoyance of business elites and urban middle classes and underlining the social divide that has caused foreign businesses to reconsider long-term investment in the country.

Many analysts say the protests are fuelled by feelings of disenfranchisement, a widening gap between rich and poor and popular belief that unelected, powerful elites are colluding with the army or top judges to bring down governments elected by the majority, two of which were led or backed by Thaksin.

The protesters see the urbane, Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of elite domination of Thai politics, accusing him of being a stooge for a powerful military who they claim masterminded his rise to power, sponsoring political defections to enable him to win a parliamentary vote in December 2008.

The "red shirts" have rejected Abhisit's offer to dissolve parliament within nine months -- a year ahead of schedule -- accusing him of lacking sincerity and clinging on to power without a public mandate.

Analysts believe a resumption of stalled talks between Abhisit and protest leaders is the only way out of a standoff that could turn violent, stifling economic recovery and curtailing a recent surge in capital inflows.

"Abhisit needs to push for a third round of talks, behind closed doors. This is his best option and should be his first option," said Nakharin Mektraira, political scientist at Bangkok's Thammasat University