Bangkok: Anti-government activists cancelled plans to stage protests at nearly a dozen no-go zones across Bangkok on Tuesday but continued their siege of the capital's upmarket shopping and hotel district.
The protesters, who are demanding new elections, called off the proposed parade through the city after thousands of riot police and soldiers came out to block them, saying they wanted to avoid clashes.
Earlier on Tuesday, thousands of anti-government demonstrators clashed with police and military troops, with demonstrators pelting riot squads with eggs and plastic water bottles.
After some brief pushing and shoving between police and the red-shirted supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the plan was scrapped. Some protesters cheered, others smiled and hugged police officers.
However, police made no attempt to remove the tens of thousands of protesters from the major intersection in the Rachaprasong shopping and hotel district which they have occupied since Saturday.
"There won't be any movements today," Kwanchai Praiphana, a protest leader, told the crowd. "If there is a crackdown, we will send over our people to the Democrat party", he said, referring to the party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The army moved swiftly to dismiss talk that the protesters would be forcibly moved.
"The rally is illegal, but there will be no crackdown. We will review our measures," army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said in an national televised address.
The plan to move out in a convoy of motorcycles and pickup trucks on Tuesday's public holiday came as pressure mounted on Abhisit Vejjajiva to take action and put a swift end to the 25-day protest campaign.
The "red shirts" have rejected Abhisit's offer to dissolve parliament within nine months, which is a year ahead of schedule. They accuse him of lacking sincerity and clinging on to power without a public mandate.
Meanwhile, business leaders have called for an end to the crisis, predicting even greater shocks to the economy and tourism if it persists.
