BANGKOK, March 31 (UPI) -- Thailand's capital should brace itself for a series of bomb attacks after face-to-face talks between the government and protesters ended with no election agreement.
The nearly five hours of talks between Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva along with two of his close aides and three leaders of the so-called Red Shirts were heated at times, a report in the Bangkok Post newspaper said.
The prediction of violence comes from the Center for the Administration of Peace and Order, which closely monitored the second round of negotiations, the Post said. CAPO said it expected more violence, especially bombings and other violent acts against public offices to maintain pressure on the government to resign.
The talks deadlock comes after 17 days of mostly peaceful protests and rallies in the center of Bangkok by the Red Shirts who want Abhisit to dissolve parliament within 15 days and set new elections.
Abhisit, who previously said he wouldn't negotiate with the protesters, offered to dissolve parliament within nine months and have elections Jan. 20, a year ahead of schedule.
Many of the Red Shirts and their United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship are supporters of the disgraced and exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who won record election victories in 2001 and 2005. He is often credited with improving the financial situation of the poor but he was ousted by the military in 2006 over corruption allegations.
Protests began in the middle of the month when rural people, many from northern areas that supported Thaksin, began arriving in Bangkok. The demonstrations were well-organized with bands playing, people dancing in the streets and well-known anti-government speakers addressing the crowds.
As the protest continued there were several minor explosions near government buildings and some military barracks, although no major clashes have taken place between police and protesters.
But a spokesman for the Center for the Administration of Peace and Order said the situation was regarded now as serious enough for the police and military to have heavily armed the officers in and out of uniform who are guarding potential targets of violence.
On the same day the talks broke down the government extended the use of the Internal Security Act in Bangkok and two adjoining provinces for another week, Deputy Interior Minister Boonjong Wongtrairat said. The act gives police and military more powers to stop and search people.
One of the protest leaders contacted by the BBC said what happens next, including more talks, depends on the government.
"We are planning to talk to academics for suggestions," he said. "The situation is changing by the hour. We can't say that the door to negotiations is closed but it depends on how the government reacts."
The Bangkok Post also reported that Thaksin, who was sentenced in absentia in 2008 to two years in jail on corruption charges, showed no surprise at the collapse of the talks.
"Today's talks show that the country is at a dead end. There's no exit," he said from an undisclosed location.
In February the Supreme Court ruled that half of Thaksin's $2.3 billion family fortune should be seized by the government because of conflict of interest.
He lives mostly in London and Dubai but also has been given a place of residence in Cambodia. To the dismay of the Bangkok government, Cambodia appointed Thaksin an economic adviser last November, a controversial move that created diplomatic rifts and border-readiness between the two countries.
