By Anusak Konglang (AFP) – 7 hours ago
BANGKOK — Thai officials Saturday called an emergency cabinet meeting as a top think-tank warned the stand-off between the government and "Red Shirt" protestors could deteriorate into an "undeclared civil war".
Deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban, in charge of national security, told reporters the meeting would be held at a Bangkok military base on Sunday to analyse how to cope with the protest rallies that began in mid-March.
While tensions increased in the capital, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said Thailand must consider mediation help from other countries to avoid a slide into further violence.
"The Thai political system has broken down and seems incapable of pulling the country back from the brink of widespread conflict," the ICG report, which was released late Friday, said.
"The stand-off in the streets of Bangkok between the government and Red Shirt protesters is worsening and could deteriorate into an undeclared civil war," it added.
Thailand is reeling from its worst political violence in almost two decades in the capital, where 27 people have died and nearly 1,000 injured in a series of clashes, but the government has rejected suggestions of outside mediation.
The country's Department of Special Investigation said it seized bullets, grenade parts and official government security documents Saturday in a raid on the Bangkok apartment of one Red leader, Suporn Attawong.
However Jatuporn Prompan, another core Red leader, used an evening news conference to accuse authorities of planting the material.
The demonstrations are the latest chapter in years of turmoil pitting the ruling elite against the Reds, who say the government came to power illegitimately in 2008.
Many of the Reds come from Thailand's rural poor and urban working classes and support former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and now lives overseas to avoid a jail term for corruption.
Protest leaders on Saturday slammed management at a Bangkok hospital, saying its chaotic evacuation of patients after it was stormed by Red Shirts was a ploy to make the protesters look bad.
The Reds have faced heavy criticism after about 100 supporters raided Chulalongkorn hospital Thursday evening under the mistaken belief it sheltered security forces preparing a crackdown, following deadly street violence.
The 1,400-bed hospital evacuated most of its patients because of the incident, and Red leaders have apologised profusely.
"The hospital did not hear our apology. They dramatised the evacuation of patients, turning it into a tragedy to paint Red Shirt people as bad," Red leader Jatuporn said.
The Reds, who have occupied sections of Bangkok for over a month in their bid to force snap elections, claim the hospital was used in an April 22 grenade attack on a pro-government rally that killed one and wounded dozens.
The government said the grenades were fired from inside the Reds' camp -- an accusation the movement has denied.
Thailand's Medical Council criticised the storming of the hospital and asked protesters to respect medical personnel, while police were deployed at the hospital to ensure neither security forces nor Reds use the grounds.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed to prosecute those who were involved in the hospital incident.
Thai television reported Princess Chakri Sirindhon went to Chulalongkorn Saturday to visit one of its last patients, 96-year-old Patriarch Prasangkaraj, and suggested that the country's ailing head Buddhist monk switch hospitals.
New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement on Saturday calling for all sides to "negotiate a political solution before the situation escalates".
"Thailand is spiralling further into political violence as protesters, counter-protesters, and security forces respond tit for tat against attacks and provocations," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Some 70 bomb and grenade attacks have been carried out by unknown parties in Bangkok since the Reds began street protests in mid-March, according to the rights group.
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