Tens of thousands of red-shirt protesters shut down Rajprasong intersection, a central part of Bangkok, yesterday as tensions rose to a new high.
They vowed to stay there until the government dissolved the House.
Rajprasong intersection, a major centre for shopping with many five-star hotels, was flooded by red-shirt protesters from 10am onwards as their leaders set up a temporary stage on the top of a lorry with many large speakers at the intersection itself.
Virtually all major shopping malls in the area shut down for the day as the red shirts announced the start of "Round Three" in the protracted fight against the Abhisit Vejjajiva government.
"People may hate us but we can't just do something that has no impact," Sean Boonpracong, a speaker for the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD) said. "We must ply pressure on [the government]."
At dusk, a series of red-shirt leaders came up on stage to defy a government threat to take action if the crowd did not disperse by 9pm, saying the protesters would only do so when the government dissolved the House and that they were willing to face a possible crackdown if a state of emergency were declared.
A sense of jubilation had earlier filled the air as many shouted for Abhisit to dissolve the House, with many waving their foot clappers and some of them dancing.
Some anxiety crept in by 7pm, however, as the crowds learnt that the government would try to arrest them after 9pm if they failed to disperse.
"Will you allow the military to deal with us until blood is spilled, or will you dissolve the House?" shouted DAAD leader Natthawut Saikua as the countdown towards the government's threatened crackdown began. The crowds answered with thunderous shouts and foot-clapping that they would not budge.
Chaturon Chaisang, a former deputy prime minister under the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, was also at the intersection. He told The Nation the ongoing conflict was deeper than many would like to admit. He warned that the red shirts would not disperse even if a state of emergency were declared.
"If the crowd refused to disperse and the state used force, things would turn violent," he said.
Chaturon said the red shirts were fighting against the vestige of the September 2006 military coup, adding that the conflict would likely continue for a long period. "As long as we do not address the root cause of the crisis in Thai democracy, it will be like an expanding time bomb. It must be diffused quickly."
Noi, a well-educated red-shirt demonstrator who was at the intersection as a potential confrontation with security officials neared, said: "If they are to kill us, then let [tourists] see it. It would shame them [the authorities] in the middle of Bangkok. It would turn into no less than a little civil war, and let us see how it would dilapidate the Thai economy."
By 7.30pm, red shirts were alerting their fellow protesters upcountry to prepare to head to provincial halls nationwide and seize the buildings if the government used force against the Bangkok demonstrators.
At 8pm, tension rose even further as some 400 pink-shirted demonstrators gathered at the nearby National Stadium.
Some pink shirts had attacked four red-shirt protesters on Friday in a minor skirmish at Lumpini Park.
