BANGKOK — Thai protest leaders say they will accept an offer by the Senate to mediate talks with the government to end violence in Bangkok that has killed 37 people in the past five days.
A leader of the Red Shirt protesters, Weng Tojirakarn, has told a news conference “we accept the proposal from the Senate.” Another protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, said today, “It would not be right if I set conditions for the Senate.”
The Senate on Monday offered to mediate between the two sides providing they both stopped fighting.
Today, security forces arrested a 12-year-old boy for allegedly setting fire to several houses during the mayhem gripping the Thai capital as the United Nations urged the government and Red Shirt protesters to negotiate.
At least 37 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and 266 wounded since the government began a blockade Thursday on a sprawling protesters’ camp in the heart of Bangkok. Most of the unrest has flared outside the camp, with troops firing live ammunition at roaming protesters who have lit tires to hide their positions.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s administration gave the anti-government demonstrators, who have been entrenched in the upscale Rajprasong district for more than a month, a Monday afternoon deadline to leave or face two-year prison terms.
By today, there was still no exodus among the estimated 3,000 protesters remaining at the camp, and no sign of troops trying to break through their tire-and-bamboo barricades. But there were signs the two sides may be talking.
The Red Shirts, many of whom hail from the impoverished north and northeast, have been rallying in the city since March 12 in attempts to unseat Abhisit and force immediate elections. They say the coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifferent to their plight.
Previous attempts to negotiate an end to the standoff — which has destabilized a country once regarded as one of Southeast Asia’s most stable democracies — have failed. A government offer earlier this month to hold November elections foundered after protest leaders made more demands.
The United Nations urged a negotiated solution, saying “there is a high risk that the situation could spiral out of control.” However, despite tentative talk Monday of a cease-fire, the government’s chief negotiator said the two sides remain far apart.
The Thai government said late Monday that it would accept a cease-fire offer from a “Red Shirt” protest leader if their fighters end raging street battles and return to their main camp.
Red Shirt protest leader Nattawut Saikuwa called the government’s chief negotiator, Korbsak Sabhavasu, on his mobile phone Monday, Korbsak said. It was the first direct talks between the two sides since the fighting started Thursday, though Korbsak said it was unlikely to achieve much as the two sides still remained far apart.
Nattawut’s response was not immediately known. Calls to his phone went unanswered.
The U.N. high commissioner for human rights called for restraint on both sides and more talks.
“To prevent further loss of life, I appeal to the protesters to step back from the brink, and the security forces to exercise maximum restraint,” commissioner Navi Pillay said in a statement from Geneva. “Ultimately, this situation can only be resolved by negotiation.”
The political conflict is Thailand’s deadliest and most prolonged in decades, and each passing day of violence deeply divides in this nation of 65 million — a key U.S. ally and Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
