On Sunday, thousands of the red shirt protesters still occupied at least two different commercial areas in Bangkok and expressed their readiness to confront a government crackdown.  

Speaking during a weekly TV program, Abhisit said the special cabinet meeting at 10 a.m. on Sunday would not lead to the declaration of martial law.

“We think that the situation doesn’t need martial law. Those violating the law must cease, whereas the government should not ignore the political demands,” he said.

Some officials said that Abhisit would resume talks with the Red Shirt leaders with a concession that he would speed up the dissolution of the parliament while the Red Shirts should end their protests, at least giving up some of the areas they occupy, especially the area in front of Chulalonkorn Hospital.

It is not immediately clear whether the Red Shirt leaders will accept the proposal but analysts have said that they had no choice, especially after they controversially raided the Chulalonkorn Hospital last Thursday, forcing patients to be evacuated while drawing widespread condemnation.

The Red Shirts, who view the government as an illegitimate puppet of Bangkok’s urban elite and the military, are demanding Abhisit resign, dissolve parliament and call new elections.

Abhisit has publicly suspended talks with protesters, but says he still hopes a political solution would persuade the thousands of protestors to abandon the barricaded encampment they have set up in the streets of the capital. He has not ruled out a crackdown, which would almost certainly add to the bloodshed.

Abhisit and the military’s change of stance came just a day after speculation that the government would declare martial law that could lead to use of force to disperse the protesters, who have occupied some Bangkok areas for eight weeks.

Activists from the International Crisis Group said Thailand’s political system had broken down and they expressed fear the standoff could “deteriorate into an undeclared civil war”.

The group appealed for foreign mediation, possibly led by Timor Leste President Jose Ramos Horta, to encourage both sides to stand down and help prepare for new elections and a government of national unity.

Thammasat University Thai historian Charnvit Kasetsiri warned that the conflict was not limited to Bangkok but had spread to other parts of the country.

“I don’t think the conflict will end in Bangkok,” he told The Nation on Friday.  

However, if Abhisit fails to persuade the Red Shirts to go home while not taking stern action against them, he risks facing the ire of the “yellow shirts”, a group of Bangkok elites who support his administration, and some military generals, inviting the latter to take matters into their own hands and possibly leading to bloodshed, analysts have said.

The Bangkok Post has reported that Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwon lashed out during a Defense Council meeting after being criticized for his failure to deal with antigovernment protesters.

Quoting a source, the newspaper reported that Gen. Prawit and army chief Anupong Paojinda opposed the use of military force to reclaim the Ratchaprasong area from the Red Shirts. Meanwhile, senior military officers are uneasy about Abhisit passing operational responsibility to them.

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