Thai protesters stage funeral procession

BANGKOK -- Anti-government protesters paraded coffins through the Thai capital early today following a weekend of savage street fighting that left 21 killed and fears of further violence unless the activists and government reach a political compromise.

At least 874 others were injured when security forces tried to crack down Saturday on demonstrators who have been staging a month of disruptive protests in the Thai capital, seeking to have Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajva dissolve Parliament and call new elections. It was the country's worst political violence in nearly two decades.

Unconfirmed reports in local newspapers said political parties in the coalition government were pressuring Abhisit to compromise with the "Red Shirt" protesters by dissolving Parliament in the next six months instead of by year's end, as he had earlier promised.

But on Sunday, protest leaders said they would not negotiate with "murderers" and instead mourned their dead from the pitched battles Saturday when army troops tried unsuccessfully to clear thousands of demonstrators from their encampment in the historic heart of Bangkok.

Today, protesters launched a motorized procession with 14 empty coffins that was to follow a long loop through the Thai capital. Autopsies on the corpses were to be carried out to determine how they died.

Both sides accuse each other of firing battlefield weapons during the confrontation.

Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the "Red Shirt" protest movement -- which contends the current government is illegitimate because it does not reflect the results of the last elections -- said Abhisit's hands were "bloodied" by the clashes.

"Red Shirts will never negotiate with murderers," Jatuporn announced from a makeshift stage. "Although the road is rough and full of obstacles, it's our duty to honor the dead by bringing democracy to this country."

The demonstrations are part of a long-running battle between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 military coup that removed him from power amid corruption allegations.

The protesters, called Red Shirts for their garb, see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of an elite impervious to the plight of Thailand's poor and claim he took office illegitimately in December 2008 after the military pressured Parliament to vote for him.

"The government should be more flexible in their attempt to resolve the situation. It's their duty to seek for solution that's possible and acceptable for both sides," said Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

He predicted more violence in the next two weeks since "the standpoint of both sides is clear -- that negotiation and compromise will not happen."

Other observers saw political maneuvering rather than street fighting on the horizon.

"Abhisit standing down would be a plus. He is discredited now, so he must decide how he can do something that is seen as in the national interest. An election is urgent," said Kevin Hewison, who heads the Asian Studies Department at the University of North Carolina.

"That may not solve the long-term problem of division, but it allow some breathing space. It is just possible, though, that that moment has passed," he said.

Protesters held a procession for the dead Sunday near their rally site in historic Bangkok. Marching with Buddhist monks, they held aloft several coffins and carried photos of the victims. One mother called her son "a hero" before breaking down in tears.

Earlier, protesters showed off a pile of weapons they had captured from the troops, including rifles and heavy caliber machine-gun rounds. More than half a dozen military vehicles, armored personnel carriers, Humvees and a truck were crippled by the protesters, who ripped the treads off the armored cars.

Some of the heaviest fighting occurred near the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road, where protesters came in throngs Sunday to pose for pictures on top of seized army vehicles. Others strolled around in confiscated army riot gear.

Apichart Sankary, an executive with the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, said that if street protests continue the number of foreign visitors could drop to 14.5 million this year, against an earlier projection of 15.5 million.

Four soldiers and 17 civilians were killed, according to the government's Erawan emergency center. It said at least 874 people were injured. The deaths included Japanese cameraman Hiro Muramoto, who worked for the Thomson Reuters news agency. In a statement, Reuters said he was shot in the chest and the circumstances of his death were under review.

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Associated Press writers Grant Peck, Jocelyn Gecker and Denis D. Gray contributed to this report.