Thai PM to meet protesters
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed on Sunday to meet leaders of an anti-government protest movement in a move to defuse growing tensions and avert possible confrontation but is unlikely to make major concessions.
Abhisit, whose repeated refusal to call a new election has frustrated the "red shirt" protesters who broadly back former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, agreed to meet their leaders if tens of thousands of demonstrators moved away from the military base where he has been staying.
Analysts say he is unlikely to agree to their demand to dissolve parliament. Abhisit was not at the base and was attending a meeting of his Democrat Party in the seaside town of Hua Hin.
"To bring back the peace and to avoid possible violence and confrontation, the prime minister has accepted the protesters' proposal to talk," Prime Minister's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey told local television.
After two weeks of peaceful rallies, the "red shirts" have stepped up their campaign to topple the government with a new level of brinkmanship that has raised tensions and stoked fears of clashes between demonstrators and security forces.
They were close to entering the compound of Abhisit's office on Saturday after forcing thousands of troops to pack up and leave eight sites around the city's historic heart.
The intensification of the rally came two days after ousted former premier Thaksin, their assumed leader, called for a campaign of "civil disobedience."
Securities analysts said the raising of the stakes was unlikely to dampen the mood of foreign investors who have piled into Thailand's stock market, one of Asia's cheapest.
They were net buyers for a 24th-straight session on Friday, adding to the 47 billion baht (974 million pounds) of inflows since February 22.
But the protests highlight a deepening divide in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, which has made investors worried about an intensification of the crisis think twice about longer term expansion in Thailand.
MYSTERIOUS ATTACKS
The threat of unrest and a slew of mysterious but non-fatal grenade attacks and small bombings have left the city of 15 million people on edge. No one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.
Twelve soldiers and four civilians were wounded when three state or army-run television stations and the military base where Abhisit has sought refuge were targeted late on Saturday and early on Sunday in more grenade attacks.
As red-shirted protesters started to mass outside the base on the outskirts of Bangkok, Abhisit announced on television that he and three other ministers were willing to meet their leaders if the demonstrators eased off.
"There will be no talk in an atmosphere that aims to threaten and pressure," Abhisit said.
Abhisit left Hua Hin by helicopter and was headed for an academic institute on the northern outskirts of Bangkok to meet
four of the main protest leaders.
Analysts have said Abhisit, who enjoys staunch backing of the military and Thailand's establishment elites, is unlikely to make any real concessions and talks would prove fruitless.
Abhisit said earlier on Sunday he was happy to "discuss" house dissolution, but did not elaborate.
He has previously said his government, which came to power in a parliamentary vote in December 2008 after a pro-Thaksin party was disbanded, is legitimate and the country is too divided to go to the polls, which analysts say his party is unlikely to win.
(Additional reporting by Manunphattr Dhanananphorn; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Paul Tait)