Thai protesters seek reinforcements, ignore calls to leave

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Senior Vice-president Nuruddin Md Sadeque Hussain, Executive Vice-president Mustafizur Rahman, Member of Shariah Supervisory Committee Kamal Uddin Chowdhury, Senior Executive Vice-president & Company Secretary Muhammad Shahjahan and Assistant Vice-preside

BANGKOK, May 13 (Reuters): Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters were seeking reinforcements Thursday after ignoring a midnight deadline to end two months of street rallies that have sparked Thailand's deadliest political violence in 18 years.
Leaders of the mostly rural and urban poor protesters urged supporters to join their barricaded encampment in Bangkok's commercial district after authorities abruptly postponed plans to cut power and water to the area following outcry from residents.
"We came as lions, we must go back as lions," Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, told cheering supporters late on Wednesday. "Please come out and help us man our forts."
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Abhisit is under enormous pressure to end the five-week occupation of the shopping district by protesters who say he lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote 17 months ago.
"With another day of another futile ultimatum and no fruitful action, Abhisit risks losing any credibility he has left," Nattaya Chetchotiros, assistant news editor at The Bangkok Post, wrote in a column.
Abhisit's threats follow the unravelling of a government peace plan proposed last week to end a political crisis that has killed 29 people, paralysed parts of Bangkok and slowed growth in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
Both sides appear to be running out of options, raising the risk of a violent confrontation and flummoxing investors in one of Southeast Asia's most promising emerging markets.
"The markets have no idea what to make of the situation. It seems like we're heading back to square one," said Sukit Udomsirikul, a senior analyst at brokerage Siam City Securities.
"It's obvious it's more difficult than they thought in terms of how to disperse the protesters," Sukit added. "A resolution to the crisis looks far off."
Foreign investors have turned negative since violence flared in April and have sold ($584 million) in Thai shares in the past six sessions, cutting their net buying so far this year to $607.6 million as of Wednesday.
Disparate views among protest leaders-from radical former communists to academics and aspiring lawmakers-make it difficult to reach consensus. Many face criminal charges for defying an emergency decree and some face terrorism charges carrying a maximum penalty of death.