No end to unrest as red shirts parade protesters' bodies

In Bangkok on Monday, Thai opposition protestors paraded the bodies of two protesters and 14 empty coffins though the capital. But Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is refusing to call immediate elections, saying the government remains unified.

Reuters

Abhisit says, meanwhile that demonstrators are being used by what he called terrorists to force change through violence. He says peaceful demonstrators demands should be addressed in the political arena.

And Thailand's army chief, Anupong Paojinda, has called for a political solution to the unrest.

The red shirts, who come from mainly poor and rural areas of Thailand, have rejected Abhisit's offer of elections before the end of this year, one year ahead of schedule.

The protestors who back the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra accuse the government of being elitist and of enjoying too much support from the army.

Weekend clashes between protestors and the army in Bangkok left 21 people dead and more than 800 injured.

Seventeen civilians, including a Japanese cameraman, and four soldiers were killed on Saturday after the army launched a crackdown.

The instability in the Thai capital led Thai stocks to plunge more than five per cent in Monday afternoon trade.