Troops guard biz hub from Thai protesters

An army spokesman said on Monday troops could use force to stop red-shirted supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra from going ahead with plans to march to the Silom Road office district from a luxury shopping area they have occupied for more than two weeks. “The operations will start from soft to heavy measures,” said spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Analysts say the six-week protest has evolved into a dangerous standoff between the army and a rogue military faction that supports the red shirts and includes retired generals allied with twice-elected and now fugitive former premier Thaksin.

As tensions simmered, the 60-year-old telecoms billionaire urged Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call snap elections to end the impasse. If Abhisit resists, there would be further crackdowns and possibly a military coup, Thaksin said.

“The political crisis must be resolved by political means, and the only way is for Abhisit to dissolve parliament and call a snap election,” Thaksin said. Troops converged in the Silom Road area before dawn, erecting barbed wire around the headquarters of Bangkok Bank, Thailand’s biggest bank and a red shirt target.