Thai PM stands firm on election, says protests flagging

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at Royal Thai Air Force Headquarters before a meeting to discuss an Election Commission proposal to postpone the upcoming general election, in Bangkok January 15, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

"RED SHIRTS" TO STAY OUT OF BANGKOK

The latest protests have been less violent than a spasm of unrest in 2010, when troops were sent in to end a two-month protest in central Bangkok by "red shirt" Thaksin supporters. More than 90 people died during those protests.

Thaksin, who turned to politics after making a fortune in telecommunications, redrew Thailand's political map by courting rural voters. He now lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence handed down in 2008 for abuse of power.

In this upsurge of unrest there have been relatively few factional clashes. Government supporters said they held protests on Monday and Tuesday in provinces neighboring Bangkok but had no plans to demonstrate in the city.

"All we ask is that Prime Minister Yingluck does not resign," said Worawut Wichaidit, spokesman for the pro-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship.

"If (Suthep) and his group achieve their goal ... the outcome would be similar to a coup, and we all saw what happened the last time there was a coup," Worawut said, referring to instability and factional strife in the years that followed the last army takeover.

It is widely thought that, if the agitation grinds on, the judiciary or the military may step in. The military has staged or attempted 18 coups in 81 years of on-off democracy, although it has tried to stay neutral this time and army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has publicly refused to take sides.