'Neutral body should broker talks between feuding parties'

Wuthisan Tanchai, the institute's deputy secretary-general, proposed that neutral organisations like his own institution or the Thai Journalists Association might provide a forum for negotiation.

"They should try to determine to what extent they can be satisfied, and then they can progress together," Wuthisan said.

"It must be understood that in a democratic society you cannot be fully satisfied. You shouldn't set a target of gaining 100 per cent, or the country won't progress and the tension will increase," he added.

Wuthisan blamed the extreme stances of both sides for failure to end the prolonged political conflict.

"The ongoing political conflict was caused by extreme stances and demands by all the parties concerned, and all ways out are closed," he said.

In a related development, groups supporting peaceful solutions to the conflict are recruiting volunteers to gather views from people involved in the dispute, as part of an effort to find a solution, said Gothom Arya, director of Mahidol University's Research Centre for Peace-Building.

He said the volunteers would interview supporters of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy, pro-government Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship, the government and police.

The viewpoints and comments gathered will be analysed to determine a solution that can be agreed upon by the feuding parties, he said.