Thai "red shirts" defiant after 21 die in clashes

By Ambika Ahuja

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai "red shirt" protesters ruled out negotiations with the government on Sunday 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 on Monday.

"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 dissolve parliament and leave the country, the scene of 18 coups since 1932.

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 15 million that has been under a state of emergency since Wednesday. They made no attempt to come out of their bases on Sunday and troops did not make any move toward them.

Thaksin, writing on his Twitter account (twitter.com/Thaksinlive), accused the government of "bringing troops from all over the country" to crush the protests.

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.