BANGKOK - THE Thai capital faces the prospect of renewed violence as a pro-government grouping led by a former deputy police chief embarks on an offensive, beginning tomorrow, to retake Government House.
The grounds have been occupied by the opposition People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) since August.
General Salang Bunnag said on Friday that his pro-government group - the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) - would from tomorrow start blocking food supplies for PAD supporters camped inside Government House.
The PAD has been campaigning from May this year against the People Power Party (PPP), the main component of a coalition government which swept into office in an election in December.
The right-wing PAD has denounced the PPP as a proxy for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
PAD co-leader Chamlong Srimuang has warned that bloodshed might be unavoidable in a confrontation with the DAAD.
Another PAD leader Pibhop Dhongchai also demanded that the government prevent Gen Salang and his supporters from fomenting violence against the opposition.
He said police and soldiers must handle security outside Government House and that the PAD would take care of security inside.
Interior Minister Kowit Watana has so far played down Gen Salang's plan to besiege the compound.
But social critic Prawase Wasi reminded the opposing sides that they might trigger violence if one tried to dislodge the other from Government House.
'I don't approve of bickering that can end up with an outbreak of violence,' he said, adding that the two camps should negotiate a settlement.
'It's all right to have differing political views, but this should not degenerate into violence.'
The leader of the Chart Thai Party, Mr Banharn Silapa-archa, also warned that the country would plunge deeper into animosity and that it would face greater economic damage if there were more bloody clashes.
The party is a partner in the ruling coalition.
The deepening divide between the government and the opposition has led to growing fears that the military might stage another coup, a move that has been decried by the DAAD.
Saying that it wanted to 'protect democracy', the group is also planning to hold demonstrations at Sanam Luang, just 2km from the Government House, to prepare for 'countering a military takeover and to warn the military against launching another putsch'.
Separately, the PAD said it would evaluate the situation tomorrow before deciding whether to besiege Parliament on Tuesday when the two chambers are scheduled to amend the charter.
The House and Senate are scheduled to have a joint sitting on Tuesday to pave the way for the establishment of a new Constitution drafting assembly.
But the PAD is opposed to charter amendments, which it claims would benefit only the ruling PPP and Mr Thaksin.
Mr Pibhop said that if the DAAD rallies in front of Parliament on Tuesday in support of the charter amendment, the PAD would not demonstrate there.
