Thai crackdown feared

As peace talks founder:

THAILAND: Thailand’s government demanded on Monday an end to protests that have killed 37 people in four days of escalating street violence in Bangkok before holding talks with its opponents seeking immediate elections.

After their plea for a ceasefire and U.N. moderated talks was dismissed by the government on Sunday, the “red shirt” protest leaders on Monday offered talks as long as a neutral arbiter took part and troops withdrew.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said in response that rioting and violence against troops must end first.

“The government is ready to go forward with negotiations when the situation is defused, when the protest ends, violence ends, attacks on authorities end.”

That seemed to leave the talks at a dead end, with both sides demanding the other stops acting violently first.

Across the city, people were hoarding food and hotels were pleading for guests to leave. Schools have been closed and while Monday and Tuesday were declared public holidays, markets and banks remained open.

Fighting near the protest encampment was intense overnight.A rocket hit the 14th floor of the Dusit Thani Hotel, a Reuters photographer said, triggering gunfire from “all around” inpitch blackness, since power had been cut to the area.

Guests at the Dusit were evacuated on Monday morning after spending much of the night cowering in the basement.

Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng (Commader Red), was shot in the head on Thursday, fueling the latest eruption of violence in a five-year crisis pitting the rural and urban poor against what they call an “establishment elite” that has traditionally run the Kingdom of Thailand.

Military helicopters dropped leaflets on the encampment, barricaded with walls made of tyres, bamboo poles and razor wire, calling for protesters to leave immediately.

At least 37 people have been killed and 266 injured since then, according to government figures..

Protest leader Jatuporn Prompan told supporters in the encampment, including women and children: “The king’s glorious mercy is the country’s only hope now. It’s the only way out.”

King Bhumibol Aduladej, 82, has stepped in to end past crises during his 63 years on the throne, but has been hospitalised for the past seven months and not publicly commented on the crisis.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed “no retreat” against “armed terrorists” seeking to topple his government.

The “Red shirts”, mostly loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup, say Abhisit’s army-backed government, which came to power 18 months ago in a controversial parliament vote, is illegitimate and they want him to call elections now.

At least 66 people have been killed and more than 1,600 wounded since the red shirts began their protest in mid-March.

“We can’t see when the turmoil will end now, and it seems the situation is just getting fiercer,” said Kavee Chukitkasem research head at Kasikorn Securities. “Protesters are separating to many different spots and the government isn’t retreating.” A state of emergency has spread to more than a quarter of the country after emergency decrees were declared in five more provinces on Sunday, bringing the total to 22, as violence erupted in the north and northeast, a Thaksin stronghold home to just over half of Thailand’s 67 million people. Bangkok, Monday, Reuters