Thai protesters subdued as political limbo drags on

An anti-government 'red shirt' protester wearing a t-shirt with picture of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sleeps behind barricades in Bangkok's financial district May 6, 2010.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Laying on a hammock outside a shuttered luxury department store in central Bangkok, Sirinat Trisang wonders if the uncomfortable weeks spent protesting to topple Thailand's government have been in vain.

The defiant and hopeful mood that has characterized nearly two months of crippling demonstrations and kept Sirinat and thousands of other red-shirted protesters on the street is disappearing, replaced by signs of reluctant resignation.

Their two-month struggle, which has resulted in 27 deaths and around 1,000 injuries, is in limbo after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected their calls for an immediate election but announced a national reconciliation "road map" leading to polls on November 14.

"I'm not sure what's next. If the leaders declare victory, we will go home," the 47-year-old housewife said. "But I'm not sure what that victory will be. Reconciliation isn't a magic word. Blood was spilled and it feels like we are being short-changed."

Her message was echoed across the 3 sq-km (1.2 sq-miles) fortified encampment that protesters have occupied since April 3 forcing luxury department stores and shopping malls to shut their doors, one at a cost of an estimated $37 million in revenue.

Expensive hotels and apartments have mostly been vacated by residents and guests fearful of a crackdown by the army or kept awake by blaring round-the-clock music from the protesters.

"Am I disappointed? A little bit. But mostly I'm feeling restless. I want it to end one way or the other," said Sakorn Mahajaidee from northeastern Khon Kaen province.

"I still think this is a bad deal. I'll feel a little cheated if they do end this after all the sleepless nights," Sakorn said, showing mosquito bites dotted all over his legs from sleeping outdoors since March 12, when the protest began.

Analysts say Abhisit's five-point reconciliation plan is too vague for immediate implementation.

"The details will make or break the reconciliation deal and there are still a lot of uncertainties about the details of the government's offer," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

DEFUSED TENSIONS

But the prime minister's move has helped defuse tensions.

The fearsome-looking, black-clad guards who man the heavily fortified checkpoints smiled and waved at people entering the encampment. There were no signs of the usual rigorous bag checks or metal detector scans.

Several of the huge walls of kerosene-soaked tires, razor wire and sharpened wooden spears were left unguarded.

Meanwhile, the red shirt leaders' ambiguous responses to Abhisit's plan seem to have left the rank-and-file protesters in the dark about what is really going on.

Some say their leaders are right to ask for further talks to clarify the premier's proposal. Others want a written agreement or feel the proposed election is not soon enough.

Few of their senior leaders appeared Thursday on the stage set up at the protest site, where speakers held a singing contest to boost morale and to try to keep protesters entertained.

As hundreds sat under canvass-roofed tents in the debilitating heat and occasional tropical downpours, it was business as usual for others at the village-like encampment.

A woman cooked fried rice in a large wok, men huddled around a tiny television screen watching replays of clashes with troops. Others danced to folk music and children played with marbles.

But impatience is setting in.

Some protesters say they are ready to step up the fight again if Abhisit refuses to make substantive concessions. Others are adding more permanent fixtures to what is becoming a city within a city -- more mobile washrooms were set up and elevated wooden planks were laid on the ground as the rainy season sets in.

"We have to make sure the government will not turn back on their promise," said Chaiwat Thongaram, 52, from Bangkok. "I'm happy to stay for as long as necessary to make sure our victory is guaranteed. We have come too far to just give up."

Asked what constituted victory, he said: "For me, it's the return to democracy. I'll leave the big questions to the leaders."

(Additional Reporting by Chalathip Thirasoonthrakul; Editing by Martin Petty and Alex Richardson)