Red-shirt protesters yesterday abandoned Phan Fa Bridge, shifting their main protest site to the Rajprasong area in what their leaders described as a strategic move in preparation for a second crackdown.
The government, however, views it as a need for the crowd to merge as the number of red-shirt supporters declines.
Jatuporn Promphan, a red-shirt leader, said it was easier to maintain security at the Rajprasong intersection and there was sufficient road space to accommodate more protesters.
He said the government appeared more concerned about the buildings in the Rajprasong area than at Phan Fa.
"This is a good strategic location for our fight against the government," he told reporters.
The red shirts began consolidating their protesters at the city centre after the leaders ordered those at Phan Fa to move to Rajprasong, with the first groups arriving at around 4pm.
More tents were set up on roads adjoining the Rajprasong intersection. Shopping malls in the area such as Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and Siam Discovery, were open in the morning but closed early in the afternoon.
ECONOMIC IMPACT 'MEANINGLESS'
Jatuporn, who is also an MP of the opposition Pheu Thai Party, said he thought the economic impact of the lingering protests on businesses in the Rajprasong area was "meaningless when compared to human lives". He was referring to the deaths of 15 red-shirt protesters during Saturday's clashes with soldiers.
The government denied troops had opened fire on protesters, blaming the 22 deaths - including those of six soldiers and a Japanese cameraman - on a group of mysterious hooded men armed with rifles and grenades.
Jatuporn yesterday insisted the red-shirt protesters were unarmed, adding it was the Army's duty to find out about the heavily armed men.
He called on four major business associations - the Thai Bankers Association, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Council of Thailand - to be responsible for what happened.
He said the ongoing crisis stemmed from those groups' moves against the governments of Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat while supporting the Democrat Party's rise to power.
The short-lived governments of Samak and Somchai were favoured by the red shirts and described as proxies for fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Natthawut Saikua, another red-shirt leader, said the protest leaders agreed that protesters from both sites had to consolidate "for maximum strength and efficiency" to prepare for a possible government crackdown.
"We will prepare our big army in preparation to fight with the Abhisit government after the Songkran festival. The major reason is we don't want to see more clashes and losses. The government wants the Phan Fa area back, so we have returned it to them. The government has not asked for the Rajprasong area to be returned. If they want it back, they will have to kill again," Natthawut said.
He said the government was planning a crackdown similar to the incident of October 6, 1976, in which protesting students at Thammasat University were lynched by an angry mob and shot by security forces after being described by government radio as communists.
Natthawut said the government was creating public hatred towards the red shirts by branding them as terrorists and accusing them of trying to overthrow the highest institution.
Acting Government Spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said yesterday the protest leaders decided to move their protesters out of the Phan Fa Bridge because the number of protesters had declined.
"They need to get together in one place," he said.
Panitan said the government would continue to enforce the law while keeping communication channels with red-shirt leaders open.
A security expert said there were two major reasons the red-shirt leaders had decided to merge their protest site at Rajprasong: fear of a reprisal by some angry soldiers at Phan Fa due to a small number of protesters, and Rajprasong would be a more effective site for pressuring the government.
The source, who declined to be identified, said with Rajprasong's significant location at the city's economic centre, the government would be more careful in launching a second crackdown on the protesters.
"Some protest leaders may respond by setting fire to nearby buildings, which would cause much damage," said the source.
Red-shirt leaders said they expected a second crackdown in a few days.
NO IDEA WHEN RALLY WILL END
Chai Srivikorn, president of the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association, said yesterday that nobody could predict when the red shirts' rally at the Rajprasong intersection would end.
By consolidating all their forces at the intersection, the red shirts would have a much wider impact on the area.
Previously, Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and Siam Discovery might stay open or suspend operations depending on the scale of the rally, said Chai, whose family owns the Gaysorn shopping centre.
Now with the red shirts using the intersection alone as their rally site, all of the shopping centres in the vicinity will have to close for security reasons because the protesters will occupy the road all the way down to Siam Square, he said.
The shopping malls and office towers will have to seal themselves off to prevent anybody from using them for fighting.
Gaysorn, which is located right beside the rally site, has been shuttered since the red shirts took over the area almost two weeks ago.
The damage to the Rajprasong shopping district runs at about Bt1 billion a day, he added.
