**Tensions are high in the Thai capital Bangkok after a night of minor clashes, helicopter fly-overs and fireworks.**A military spokesman has warned of “decisive action” and “chaos”, urging protesters to leave their extensive, fortified camp in the city.
Protests have also escalated in the north of the country, where a train carrying military vehicles was blocked.
The government is under pressure to crack down on the red-shirt protesters, who say they want new elections.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and armed forces commander-in-chief Anupong Paojinda have both said they want a negotiated, non-violent end to the destabilising protests, now in their sixth week.
But few observers are confident a non-violent end can be found to the increasingly militarised standoff.
‘Chaos’
Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd warned that the protesters’ time to move out was “running out”.
“If there is a crack down, innocent people might get hurt,” he said. “If we move in, we will attempt to arrest the leaders.”
“The government will be very decisive but in the beginning of the operation there may be chaos.”
The warnings echoed other calls in recent days for protesters to leave the city centre.
Officials say the number of red-shirt protesters is diminishing, but thousands remain camped out behind formidable barricades of tyres and sharpened bamboo canes.
Tensions flared late on Wednesday when anti-red protesters gathered at the Silom intersection, where troops are blocking entry to the city’s financial district.
Anti-red protesters waving Thai flags hurled abuse at the red-shirts and, around midnight, threw water bottles at the red-shirt front lines.
Two hours later, helicopters started circling over the city and in response, fireworks appeared to be fired off from behind red-shirt lines.
Further north, rallies in support of the reds’ protest are continuing most nights in scores of villages.
In Khon Kaen province, 388 km (241 miles) northeast of Bangkok, several hundred red-shirts blocked a train carrying military vehicles, assuming it was carrying supplies to counter their Bangkok protest colleagues.
On being assured the train was heading further south, negotiations allowed the train to pass.
‘Cannot talk’
Back in Bangkok, tentative hints of possible new talks between protesters and the government were quashed by comments from several red-shirt leaders.
“When there are guns pointed at our heads, we cannot talk,” said a leader, Weng Tojirakarn.
“The easiest way (to resolve the crisis) is to dissolve parliament and then we will all go home.”
He says he is leading a delegation to inform the United Nations of events and to request the presence of UN peace-keeping forces.
The BBC’s Rachel Harvey says the one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the current tense stand-off cannot persist indefinitely.
The “red-shirt” protest camp remains sprawled through Bangkok’s shopping district, forcing shops and hotels to close.
Hundreds of troops are facing tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in clearly defended zones across major junctions in the centre of the city.
A failed attempt by Thai security forces to clear protesters on 10 April left 25 people dead.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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