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BANGKOK - Thai anti-government protesters announced plans Friday to snarl up the capital with a travelling rally in a bid to win support after rejecting a conditional offer of talks by the prime minister.
Military officials expect up to 30,000 "Red Shirts" to arrive in Bangkok from the provinces on Saturday to join the convoy across the capital as the movement seeks to revive its flagging campaign for snap elections.
The group rallied for a sixth day in support of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, with protest leaders vowing to reject negotiations until the dissolution of parliament's Lower House.
"The Red Shirts are not refusing to negotiate but the prime minister has to dissolve the House first and all parties have to sign a pact saying they will respect the result of elections so the country can move ahead," Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan told the crowd.
The Reds plan to zig-zag along 45 kilometres of Bangkok's main roads, asking residents to join them.
Deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said the protest could go ahead but warned demonstrators not to block traffic.
"The government will not interfere with their legal right to protest, but they must not block roads or intersections, or the government will not consider it a peaceful protest", he said.
"The protesters must be aware that people may not agree with them and boo them."
He said the convoy would be banned from entering a two-kilometre radius around the Bangkok hospital where the country's revered king has been staying since September.
He said the government would also consider extending the area covered by a strict security law that has been enacted for the protests, enabling the deployment of a 50,000-strong force of soldiers and police.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he had not been able to return home since the rally began, as he and other members of his army-backed government have been holed up at a barracks due to security fears.
But the premier stood firm in his rejection of the protesters' demand, and said talks could only take place once the rally had dispersed.
"I am willing to talk but it should not be under this climate of intimidation," Abhisit said.
The protesters picketed the army base on Monday and on Wednesday threw bags of their blood at the walls of the prime minister's family home after staging the same stunt at his office a day earlier.
Police said about 18,000 red-clad protesters remained on Thursday during the rally's evening peak, less than a fifth of the number who turned out nearly a week ago when the group swept into the capital.
The protesters, whose numbers reached more than 100,000 on Sunday, say Abhisit's government is illegitimate because it came to power with army backing via a December 2008 parliamentary vote, after a controversial court ruling removed Thaksin's allies.
The next polls must be held by December 2011.
The Reds say they are fighting Thailand's elites in bureaucratic, military and palace circles, whom they accuse of ousting elected governments.
Twice-elected Thaksin, who was deposed in a 2006 coup, has been egging them on via videolink and online postings from exile, as he avoids a two-year jail term for corruption at home.
Amid rumours that he has been forced out of his main base in Dubai, Thaksin said on Twitter that he had returned there following a trip to the Balkan state of Montenegro.
Since Thaksin's ouster, Thailand has been rocked by protests by both his supporters and opponents that have sometimes turned violent.
- AFP/ir
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