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Though the blue-shirts have the clear objective of opposing the red-shirts and protecting the government, this time the arrival of the blue-shirts was different, because Newin showed up and joined Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban in inspecting the meeting area on Friday. The blue-shirts' status as a government force was open.

"There were not just volunteers from Chon Buri; plain-clothes police and military officials were among them,'' a police source said.

Using mobsters to confront mobsters is not a good strategy or a good method to disperse protesters; on the contrary, it fuels violence. Undeniably the use of the blue-shirts was a big mistake.

Newin denied he was behind the blue-shirts, saying he was in Pattaya to help if the situation turned ugly as he knew some leaders of the red-shirts and might mediate a solution.

He said security officials had not moved in because they did not want to clash with protesters. "It is not a matter of how many security officials are deployed now but what is the goal of the protest leaders and how they pursue that goal,'' he said.

During the confrontations between the blue-shirts and red-shirts yesterday morning, reporters saw Newin instructing the blue-shirts by phone not to let the red-shirts into the hotel area. Then he was seen taking a motorcycle to the scene to give orders in person.