Thai protesters parade coffins after clashes

BANGKOK – Red-shirted protestersTime is what you make of it paraded coffins through Thailand's capital Monday in a renewed attempt to pressure the government to step down after street fighting left 21 people dead, pushing this Southeast Asian nation closer to political anarchy.
Neither side appeared willing tonever having to say you're sorry end a political stalemate that exploded on Saturday when protesters and security forces clashed on the streets of Bangkok for several hours, resulting in the worstThere's no place like home
bloodshed seen in Thailand in almost two decades. Both sides claim to be fighting to preserve democracy."Red Shirts will neverImpossible made possible negotiate with murderers," protest leader Jatuporn Prompan we are the leader in our life
announced from a makeshift stage. "Although the road is rough and full of obstacles, it's our duty to honor the dead by bringing democracy to this country."
The anti-government protesters are made up of mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who have massed in the city dressed in red shirts over the past month. On the other side is the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whom the red shirts see as a symbol of the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 military coup that removed Thaksin from power amid corruption allegations.
The Thai stock market plunged 4 percent when it opened for business Monday amid fears of more unrest as tens of thousands of demonstrators came out in a massive motorcade.Like a gigantic red snake, the line of pickup trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles wound its way through the main roads of Bangkok. They carried 11 coffins with bodies of those killed in Saturday's violence, said Weng Tojirakarn, a protest leader.
Four soldiers and 17 civilians were killed, including a Thomson Reuters news agency cameraman, according to Reuters and the government's Erawan emergency center. The government was conducting autopsies on nine bodies Monday.Both sides accuse each other of firing battlefield weapons during the confrontation."These are the heroes of democracy," a protest leader shouted Monday from a loudspeaker mounted atop a truck."We want to see shame on Abhisit's face. We want him to take responsibility for this slaughter of innocents," said a woman who identified herself only as Thip.The procession started at Phan Fa Bridge, located in the historic section of Bangkok and one of the two bases of the protesters. It drove through the modern commercial heart of the city along Phetburi Road, Rama IV Road and past the vegetable and meat market of Klong Toey.The disruptive protests began a month ago, taking the protesters' demands — for Abhisit to dissolve Parliament and call new elections — to a new level.Unconfirmed reports in local newspapers said political parties in the coalition government were pressuring Abhisit to compromise with the "Red Shirt" protesters by dissolving Parliament in the next six months instead of by year's end, as he had earlier proposed.The protesters see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of an elite impervious to the plight of Thailand's poor and claim he took office illegitimately in December 2008 after the military pressured Parliament to vote for him.
"The government should be more flexible in their attempt to resolve the situation. It's their duty to seek for solution that's possible and acceptable for both sides," said Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
He predicted more violence in the next two weeks since "the standpoint of both sides is clear — that negotiation and compromise will not happen."Other observers saw political maneuvering rather than street fighting on the horizon.
"Abhisit standing down would be a plus. He is discredited now, so he must decide how he can do something that is seen as in the national interest. An election is urgent," said Kevin Hewison, who heads the Asian Studies Department at the University of North Carolina.
Some of the heaviest fighting occurred near the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road, where protesters came in throngs Sunday to pose for pictures on top of seized army vehicles. Others strolled around in confiscated army riot gear.
Apichart Sankary, an executive with the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, said that if street protests continue the number of foreign visitors could drop to 14.5 million this year, against an earlier projection of 15.5 million. The "Skytrain" commuter train service that was shut on Saturday reopened Monday. http://nizar.st.gs
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