Politically driven Thailand was in a stalemate yesterday as protesters, buoyed by a huge parade across the capital, refused talks with the government announced earlier by the prime minister.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said anti-government 'Red Shirt' protesters had agreed to talks with a government minister, as they bolstered their week-long rally with a carnival-like convoy that police said swelled to 65,000 people.
But upon returning to their main rally site, after waving flags and honking horns in a bid to win over Bangkok residents, the mainly rural supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra stood firm in their demands.
"We will talk only with Abhisit," leader Jatuporn Prompan told the cheering crowd, reiterating their call for immediate elections.
Abhisit earlier said senators had arranged for a meeting on Monday between minister Satit Wonghnongtaey, government official Korbsak Sabhavasu and two senior Red Shirts.
"It's difficult to say anything in advance but at least it's good to start talks," the prime minister told reporters, as the colourful convoy of trucks, cars and motorbikes brought traffic to a halt in parts of the city.
The protesters, largely from poor northern areas, say Abhisit's government is illegitimate as it came to power with army backing via a December 2008 parliamentary vote after a controversial court ruling removed Thaksin's allies.
"We will talk only with Abhisit and with the condition of house dissolution," Nattawut Saikur told reporters after the day-long parade across the capital. He denied the Reds were "closing the door".
In what they have increasingly dubbed a 'class war', the Reds say they are fighting Thailand's elite in bureaucratic, military and palace circles, whom they accuse of ousting elected governments.
Their noisy convoy was designed to recruit urban support and revive the so-far peaceful rally, which had begun to wane after peaking at more than 100,000 people last weekend.
"We succeeded on our caravan today. We were warmly received and welcomed by Reds and also many people of other coloured shirts," Nattawut said.
Abhisit, who has spent most of the rally holed up in an army barracks due to security fears, criticised the evocation of class struggle, saying it "incited social unrest".
He said Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, was an "obstacle to negotiation" between the government and Red Shirts.
The ex-premier, who lives in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, spoke to supporters via videolink yesterday night, thanking those who took part in the convoy. "I'm really proud of you. I almost cried," he said.
"Today I want to invite everyone to join us to call for democracy. You don't have to wear red, but just have one ideology: democracy."
Authorities warned Bangkok residents to stay at home yesterday and 1,000 traffic police officers were deployed along the 60-kilometre route.
A 50,000-strong security force has been in place in Bangkok and surrounding areas.
The protesters picketed the military base housing Abhisit last Monday and last Wednesday threw bags of their blood at the walls of his home, after a similar stunt at his office a day earlier.
Today, artists will paint the remaining blood on a white canvas, Nattawut said.
Since Thaksin's ouster, Thailand has been rocked by protests by both his supporters and his opponents, many of whom are in Bangkok and accuse him of corruption and of disloyalty to the revered royal family.