The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as the "red shirts,” accepted a timetable for Nov. 14 elections, but set a new condition that Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban must face criminal charges.
The demand doused speculation of an imminent end to protests that have paralyzed an upscale commercial district at a cost to retailers of more than $30 million in lost business, decimated Thailand's lucrative tourism industry and squeezed Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
"Once Suthep turns himself in to the police, the UDD will disperse and return home," a protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, told supporters.
That looked unlikely.
"The government will never do that because if they do, they would be admitting guilt in resorting to violence against the protesters," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Suthep has denied he should be held responsible for deaths on April 10, when troops clashed with protesters in a chaotic gun battle in Bangkok's old quarter that killed 20 civilians and five soldiers, and wounded more than 800 people.
The government blames the killings on shadowy "terrorists" working with the red shirts, whose leaders have vowed to turn themselves in to police on May 15 to answer terrorism charges.
Suthep will appear before the Department of Special Investigation on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) to hear complaints filed against him by the protesters for "malfeasance which resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians,” said DSI chief Tharit Pengdith. But he faces no formal charges.
