BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's prime minister says his government is ready to talk.
He says the government is willing to sit down with protesters who want him to call new elections.
But first, he says, the protesters have to stop such tactics as throwing blood and blocking government offices. He says they have to remain peaceful.
For the past week, the prime minister (Abhisit Vejjajiva) has been sleeping at an army base outside Bangkok to avoid mass demonstrations by anti-government protesters.
Their rallies have featured shock tactics like splattering jugs of their own blood at his private home yesterday and at the government headquarters a day earlier.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators are still camped out in the heart of the Thai capital. They're vowing to wage a "class war" until the prime minister dissolves Parliament and calls fresh elections — a demand he has repeatedly rejected.
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<<APPHOTO BK101 (03/18/10)>>
: Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva listens to a question during a news conference after his meeting with the country's Human Rights Commission at a military barrack in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, March 18, 2010. Abhisit said his government stands ready to talk with the 'Red Shirt' United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) movement, but the anti-government activists must comply with the law without blockading government offices and the homes of key persons and they must stop inciting violence, according to Thai News Agency (TNA).
<<APPHOTO DLL112 (03/18/10)>>
: Anti-government demonstrators gather on a side street Thursday, March 18, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Demonstrators have vowed to extend their protest in the Thai capital indefinitely after taking their attention-grabbing tactic of pouring bottles of their own blood to the prime minister's home.
