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| Southeast Asia |
| Wrangling as Thai protesters refuse to quit |
| 2010-05-08 |
| BANGKOK - Anti-government protesters in Thailand refused to leave the streets of Bangkok on Friday, but hinted they may be able to strike a deal in the coming days to end a deadly crisis that has stifled the economy. But after a week of calm, tensions resurfaced late on Friday when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire near rival protesters in Bangkok's heavily guarded Silom business district, wounding two civilians and two policemen, one critically. Channel 7 television, citing a police spokesman, said the injured officer died during emergency surgery. The spokesman could not be reached for confirmation. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has put forward a plan to end the rallies that have crippled the capital and scared off tourists, but it remained in limbo as rival factions squabbled over details, including a proposed early election in November. “We are not calling off protests as yet,' Jaran Ditapichai told Reuters after meeting fellow leaders. “We have a proposal for Abhisit and we will talk about it in more detail later.' The stand-off has paralysed the commercial heart of the capital for nearly two months, but its roots stretch back to the prime ministership of Thaksin Shinawatra — a populist tycoon ousted in a 2006 military coup — and the deep social divisions it exposed between Thailand's traditional elite and rural masses. Thai fell 2.1 percent, but other Asian markets were also in negative territory amid worries about the fallout from euro zone debt problems. The baht was little changed. Thai stocks have now given up the gains scored on Tuesday, when the index jumped 4.4 percent in reaction to Abhisit's reconciliation plan. “The deal is still not off the table. There are still more complications ... This stalemate could actually last for a while,' said Kiatkong Decho, a strategist at CIMB Securities. |
| Posted by:Steve White |