Scenes of deadly urban warfare have erupted on the fringes of the group's sprawling encampment in the heart of Bangkok after the army moved in Thursday to seal off the area after peace negotiations broke down.

The army has warned it will clear the main rally site in an upscale commercial district unless protesters disperse, but has given no timetable for the move and has been mired in what many see as badly planned street battles.

"I do not see a well thought out, systematically implemented containment operation unfolding right now," Anthony Davis, an analyst for Jane's Defence Weekly, told AFP.

"What I see is fits and starts and stops. I don't know whether it's a lack of political will or it's a failure of tactical nerve."

At least 24 people have been killed and nearly 200 wounded Bangkok since Friday, after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva last week shelved a plan to hold early elections because the protesters refused to end the rally.

All of the fatalities have been civilians.

The latest clashes started when the army initiated a lockdown at the rally site, cutting telephone and electricity services, setting up checkpoints on roads into the area and deploying snipers in "live fire zones".

Experts say there appear to be factions within the security forces supporting the Reds and a series of military operations have been bungled, including a failed attempt to arrest protest leaders who fled a hotel.

"Unable to trust its forces for a commando raid or a thorough nonviolent removal of demonstrators, the military has turned to brute force, which is actually easier to apply than sophisticated crowd control," wrote Joshua Kurlantzick, fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Even so, analysts said, the government appears to be worried about the potential repercussions of ongoing military operations, which have triggered international alarm and calls for both sides to show restraint.

"No matter how violent the Reds have been in the past week, the government does not have a blank cheque to unleash security forces upon them," said Sunai Phasuk, an analyst at Human Rights Watch.

"The government is sensitive to public opinion."

A military operation on April 10 to clear an area of the city of protesters left 25 people dead and more than 800 injured. The army suffered a humiliating retreat and suffered heavy casualties on its own side.

The rallies, which began in mid-March, have been inspired by a new political awareness among Thailand's rural poor, but have found increasing support among others displeased with Thailand's elites.

Authorities are likely worried that clearing Reds from the capital would spark violent uprisings by members of the movement across northern Thailand, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

"The military has full authority from the government, but not a full hand because of the potential for spontaneous uprisings elsewhere," Thitinan said.

Members of the military may also be afraid that a violent crackdown could bring personal repercussions, he added.

"If there's a backlash against the military for killing hundreds of people in a major crackdown there would have to be some answers," he said.

However, the military has already faced criticism for its tactics.

The designation of "live fire zones" by troops has put them on a "slippery slope" towards serious human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said Sunday.

But while troops have set up a cordon around the four-kilometre (2.5-mile) Red zone, they are being distracted by well-organised Reds around them, said Davis at Jane's Defence Weekly.

"There is a danger that the containers are being contained," he told AFP.

"This is not being done in a manner that sends an unambiguous message to protesters both inside and outside the Red zone saying 'look, this is game over, we're being serious'," he added.

earlier related report
Thai 'Red' general's condition worsens: hospital
Bangkok (AFP) May 16, 2010 - The health of a renegade Thai general allied with anti-government "Red Shirt" protesters deteriorated Sunday after he was shot last week in their Bangkok rally site, said a hospital official.

Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol, known as Seh Daeng, was shot in the head Thursday night during an interview with the press near the area where thousands have been rallying against the government for the past two months.

"Seh Daeng's condition is not well, he has low blood pressure and kidney failure. Doctors are keeping a close watch on him," Vachira hospital director Chaiwan Charoenchokthawee told AFP.

The general, 58, was unconscious and given a low chance of survival when he was rushed for treatment.

The shooting of the outspoken general coincided with a government effort to seal off the protest site by cutting power and blocking roads. As part of the operation, the army had warned it would deploy snipers.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had accused Seh Daeng -- who was suspended from duty in January -- of trying to prevent an end to the demonstrations.

But the high-profile Reds supporter had been able to wander freely in and out of the demonstrators' fortified encampment, and to meet journalists despite being wanted by the police.

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