Thai ‘red shirt’ protesters ruled out negotiations with the government and said they would not give up their fight for early elections a day after clashes with security forces killed 21 people.
Bangkok was quiet, but with no resolution in sight and the prospect of more violence, the stock market, one of Asia's most buoyant, is likely to be hit when trading starts tomorrow.
‘The time for negotiation is up. We don't negotiate with murderers,’ red shirt leader Weng Tojirakarn said.
The red shirts, mostly rural and working-class supporters of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a coup in 2006, want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and leave the country.
Saturday's fighting, the worst political violence in the country since 1992 with some of it taking place in well-known tourist areas, ended after security forces pulled back late in the night.
The red shirts, still numbering in the thousands, have occupied two main areas of the capital, a city of 15m that has been under a state of emergency since Wednesday.
They made no attempt to come out of their bases today and troops did not make any move towards them.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thausuban vowed to return order to the streets, although he conceded that troops would not be able to take control immediately after the damage suffered in Saturday's clashes.
Foreign investors have been ploughing money into Thai stocks this year, boosting the market by 7.5%, but the outbreak of violence since the middle of last week caused them to pause.
The stock market is open tomorrow but closed from Tuesday to Thursday for the Thai New Year.
