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BANGKOK: Thailand was mired in political deadlock on Sunday as demonstrators used their own blood to create a giant piece of protest art and rejected the government's offer of talks designed to end their rally.
The "Red Shirts" painted poems, pictures and political slogans on white canvas with remains of the blood they had donated and splattered on the prime minister's house and offices in their shock tactics of the past week.
"People of the next generation will know that the older generation would sacrifice everything, including their blood," Red Shirt poet Visa Kantab told the cheering crowd in Bangkok's old quarter as they displayed the artwork.
The Reds, who support ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are calling for immediate elections on claims that the current government, led by premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, is illegitimate and elite-backed.
"We guarantee that Abhisit will not get bored," Red leader Nattawut Saikur told reporters late on Sunday - the eighth day of their Bangkok protests - when asked about their next step.
He said they had "several plans" afoot, without giving further details, as they again rejected Abhisit's offer of dialogue with one of his ministers.
"We will not talk to anybody except Abhisit and we will only talk about one topic - house dissolution," added another protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan.
Earlier, Abhisit said he would send his education minister and a government official to meet senior Red Shirts on Monday, despite the protesters' repeated insistence on speaking only to the premier.
"They can talk to me but before reaching that step, they must meet representatives to talk about the outline of talks," the prime minister said on his weekly television programme.
"If (the Red Shirts) come it means they are interested in democracy. If not, they are following what Thaksin wants them to do," he added.
Ex-premier Thaksin, who was deposed in a coup in 2006, is supported by many of the protesters for the populist policies he introduced when in power.
In what they have dubbed a "class war," the mainly poor and rural Reds say they are fighting Thailand's elite in bureaucratic, military and palace circles, whom they accuse of ousting elected governments.
On Saturday, they paraded noisily through Bangkok in a carnival-like parade that swelled to 65,000 people and aimed to win urban support to revive the rally, which had waned since peaking at 100,000 at its start last weekend.
Thaksin, who now lives in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, thanked the marchers via videolink on Saturday. "I'm really proud of you. I almost cried," he said, calling on Thai people to "join us to call for democracy".
A few hours after the peaceful parade, two small explosions occurred in Bangkok and a nearby province, targeting a new National Counter Corruption Commission office and a road near the defence ministry.
It was not clear who was behind the attacks, in which one person suffered minor wounds, police said.
A 50,000-strong security force has been in place in the Bangkok area during the protests under a strict security law. The measures enabled by the law are to stay in place until Tuesday but could be continued, Abhisit said.
Since Thaksin was ousted, Thailand has been politically riven, with a string of protests staged by both his supporters and his opponents, who say he is a crook and disloyal to the revered royal family.
- AFP/yb
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