Red Shirts pour blood at PM's

The government is ready for talks with the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban as saying Wednesday.

The offer is made on the condition that its core leader Veera Musikhapong, must first get the green light from former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Protesters emptied bottles of their blood outside the home of Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Wednesday after the government rejected calls for elections, Reuters reported.

Tens of thousands of supporters of ousted Thaksin surrounded the house in Bangkok despite a government-invoked security law to prevent the demonstration.

Protesters say the splashing of blood was a "symbolic sacrifice for democracy".

Thousands of the "red shirt" protesters gathered outside the US embassy demanding clarification of comments by Thailand's deputy prime minister who said the Thai government had received US intelligence of possible sabotage.

Suthep said the government would continue to take stringent measures until it was sure that there would not be any violence.

Suthep was unhappy about Thaksin, since he had continued to phone-in and further widen the division between the Thai people.

Some "red shirts" were showing signs of fatigue after days on Bangkok's streets. Of up to 150,000 demonstrators who massed on Sunday night, many had left. Police say about 40,000 remained Wednesday, still large compared to past protests.

The threat of sporadic violence remains but a clash looks increasingly unlikely.

Abhisit has not stayed at his home since Friday and has instead taken refuge at a military base, keeping a low profile.

He went to the drought-afflicted north Tuesday and left the capital Wednesday for a funeral.

Despite fiery rhetoric by demonstrators on how the mainly rural "red shirts" have been marginalized by the military, urban elite and royalists who back Abhisit, some expressed frustration about the rally's lack of impact and clear direction.

Thaksin "has no right to make people who are helping him think that the state is planning to harm or even kill them," according to a commentary Wednesday by The Nation newspaper.

The twice-elected Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and later sentenced in absentia to two years jail for graft. He fled into exile shortly before his sentence was passed and lives mainly in Dubai.

A drop in numbers may force the leaders to start looking for ways to end the rally in the near future.

"It's tricky for them. They have to do it in a way that does not embarrass the leaders and disappoint participants too much because that could undermine their credibility among their own supporters," said political scientist Somjai Phagaphasvivat.