PM stays away from Bangkok

Somchai went to pray before Buddha's relic at Phra That Phanom Temple, People Power Party MP Paijit Srivorakan said.

He would spend the night in Udon Thani where a pro-government rally was held before returning today to his temporary office in Chiang Mai, he said.

Northeastern constituents as well as their MPs would gather to give moral support to the prime minister, he said.

A Special Branch Police source said Somchai had departed Chiang Mai after his security team received intelligence reports that some military groups wanted to take him hostage.

A military officer ranked as lieutenant general would lead 12 squads including 72 patrol soldiers to capture Somchai, the source said.

Somchai left his residence for a safe house in Chiang Mai before travelling to the northeastern province.

In Chiang Mai, several pickup trucks packed with government followers drove to crowded public places where they roused the people to take the law into their own hands and attack the yellow-shirted protesters and their sympathisers.

In the message, people were encouraged to find and shut down businesses and shops run by or linked to the protesters led by the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy.

On Friday night, some red-shirted men forced a noodle soup vendor in Nong Hoy market to close down for watching anti-government programmes aired by the ASTV satellite station.

Between Friday and yesterday, red-shirted crowds distributed flyers in English to foreign visitors criticising the hijacking of two major airports at Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi.

In Bangkok, Democrat Party spokesman Buranat Samutarak warned that the chances for a negotiated settlement were fast disappearing as time dragged on.

The country is heading for unprecedented violence and bloodshed, he said.

Interior Minister Kowit Watana, who is in charge of crowd control, should quickly enter into peace talks with the PAD before it was too late, he said.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra should be blamed for resuming his political activities which have in turn inflamed the situation, he said.

The political stand-off might turn into mayhem following yesterday's rally by the red-shirted crowds at Sanam Luang, he said.

In Udon Thani, about 10,000 red-shirted villagers rallied to back the government and safeguard Somchai during his overnight stay, organiser Kwanchai Praipana said.

Each northeastern electorate would send about 20,000 people to rally in Bangkok tomorrow against the expected dissolution of the ruling party, he said.

The government should allow red-shirted crowds to disperse the yellow-shirted protesters if police failed to do their jobs, he said.

Two MPs from Lop Buri, Suchart Lainamngern and Amnuay Klangpha, predicted that more than 100,000 red-shirted people would turn out to rally by tomorrow in order to counter the PAD-led protests.

The PAD has been mobilising protesters from the 14 southern provinces to reinforce the anti-government camps at the three rally sites - Government House, Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi.

PAD's Nakhon Si Thammarat chapter leader Osoth Suwansawaet said each local chapter was responsible for dispatching 200-300 protesters daily to the three rally sites.

Osoth said PAD-led protesters were fully braced for crowd dispersal measures and would fight if red-shirted mobs descended on them.

He threatened to seize every provincial hall and block inter-provincial roads in the South if police cracked down on protesters at the two airports.

Nakhon Si Thammarat governor Panu Uthairat and his Songkhla counterpart Sonthi Techanan said they had taken precautionary measures to avert any attempts to blockade provincial halls.

Government spokesman Natthawut Saikua said it was evident from news clips that PAD-led protesters had tried to use weapons on vulnerable police.

"Armed protesters should immediately stop violent attacks against the unarmed authorities," he said.

The prime minister and his government have remained fully functioning although the situation has to be reassessed on a daily basis, he said.

Tomorrow's Cabinet meeting is expected to proceed but the venue has yet to be picked, he said.

The government-sponsored merit-making ceremony is on track for tomorrow although it is unclear whether Prime Minister Somchai will leave Chiang Mai to personally preside over the event, he said.

Somchai also remains uncertain whether he can attend ceremonies for His Majesty the King's birthday.

The government refuses to step down either by resigning or dissolving the House because this would amount to handing victory to the PAD, he added.