Thai PM withdraws early election offer; spokesman hints protesters could face crackdown

Hopes fade for peaceful end to Thai standoff

BANGKOK — Chances of a negotiated settlement of Thailand’s two-month political standoff looked bleak Tuesday as the prime minister said he would no longer offer anti-government protesters a compromise, including an early election.

The government spokesman said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had now issued instructions for quickly dealing with the so-called Red Shirt demonstrators who are occupying a central commercial district in Bangkok to press their demands.

Asked whether this implied a new crackdown by security forces, spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told The Associated Press late Tuesday: “The prime minister has already handed out some guidelines. Tomorrow they will be implemented.”

Abhisit last week told the Red Shirts — mostly poor rural Thais who view his government as illegitimate — that he was willing to hold new polls in November, more than a year before the end of his government’s term. That was presented as part of a reconciliation package if the demonstrators would end their protest and seen as the way out of the crisis.

The Red Shirts, who have been pressing for quick elections, said they agreed in principle, but gradually added a list of conditions of their own including that Abhisit and his top deputy surrender to police over an April 10 attempt by security forces to disperse protesters that left 25 people dead.

“If petty issues keep being brought up, it’s not going to end, because the government isn’t going to compromise,” Abhisit told reporters, adding that people’s patience with the demonstrators had frayed due to the hardships and losses they had suffered.

“What is essential right now is to return normalcy to society,” he said, adding that it must be done quickly.

Panitan said the initial conditional election offer had now been withdrawn.

“Their refusal to stop the protest meant that the conditions that were set are being canceled, including the election date,” he said.

Abhisit took the new stand after demonstrators insisted earlier Tuesday that they would continue their protest despite Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban reporting to Thailand’s equivalent to the FBI and the government saying both leaders were willing to submit themselves to judicial processes.

“I’m ready to enter the legal procedure,” Suthep told reporters after he met Tuesday with criminal investigators at the Department of Special Investigation. “I’m not following the demands of protesters. I’m following the law.”

But the protesters — formally known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship — said the gesture was not enough. They want the leaders — particularly Suthep, who heads the security agency whose mandate is to suppress their protest — charged with manslaughter or similar offenses. No criminal charges have been filed against either of the men.

Protest leaders criticized Suthep’s move because the Department of Special Investigation is part of the government’s Center the Resolution of the Emergency Situation, and reports to him.

The head of the DSI “is Suthep’s subordinate. He can’t be the plaintiff,” said Weng Tojirakarn, a protest leader.

The Red Shirts are demanding Suthep report instead to national police at the Crime Suppression Division — which is considered more sympathetic to the protest group.

Several violent incidents related to the Red Shirt protest have killed 29 people and wounded more than 1,400, according to a Health Ministry announcement issued Monday.

More than two dozen Red Shirt leaders already face a variety of charges, ranging from violating the terms of a state of emergency to weapons violations and assaults on government officials. The most serious charges, related to disruption of public transport services, infrastructure and telecommunications, are covered by terrorism statutes and are punishable by up to 20 years in jail and 1 million baht ($31,000) fines. No one has been arrested despite multiple attempts by police to serve warrants.

The Red Shirts include the rural and urban poor as well as pro-democracy advocates who see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as symbolic of an elite insensitive to the plight of most Thais. Many are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist leader who was accused of charged with corruption and abuse of power and ousted in a 2006 military coup.

Their protests have paralyzed a central portion of Bangkok that is home to several glitzy malls and luxury hotels, devastating the economy, particularly the vital tourism sector.

The Red Shirts have also demanded that their TV channel be allowed back on air. The government has shut down the channel’s satellite link and dozens of websites that it says have incited hatred in the country.

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Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker, Denis D. Gray and Grant Peck contributed to this report, with additional research by Warangkana Tempati.