Thai government offers talks with ex-PM Thaksin

Thailand's embattled government has offered to hold talks with former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, while thousands of protesters continued to throng the current prime minister's residence in defiance of a court order.

Thaksin supporters surrounded the Government House compound in Bangkok for the seventh straight day to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the dissolution of his three-month-old government, despite a court order issued Tuesday instructing them to disperse.

The demonstrators say the current administration came to power through illegitimate means, after a court dissolved a Thaksin-allied government.

Thaksin, recently said to be living in exile in Dubai, was toppled in a bloodless military coup in 2006, with opponents accusing him of massive corruption and abuse of power.

He also faces two years in prison for a real estate deal made while in power.

Abhisit, who is in London to represent Southeast Asian countries at the G-20 summit, has rejected calls to leave office.

Protesters dismiss talks offer

Suthep Thuagsuban, the deputy prime minister, told reporters Wednesday the government was prepared to hold talks with Thaksin. But he ruled out accommodating Thaksin's demand to dissolve the three-month-old government and call elections.

There has been no immediate reaction from Thaksin himself, but protesters later dismissed Suthep's offer. Protest leader Jatuporn Prompan told the Agence France-Presse news agency that "the situation is now beyond negotiation."

Protesters said instead they would step up their campaign to topple the government, and would hold a mass rally in Bangkok next Wednesday.

The demonstrators were also set to march to the Finance Ministry Thursday to voice their dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the economy.

Wednesday's protest mixed fiery speeches with a carnival-like atmosphere. The demonstrators sang and danced to folk music on the streets during breaks from political speeches blaring from loudspeakers. Free food and iced beverages were provided in the midday heat.

"We are not going anywhere until we win," protest leader Nattawut Sai-kua told the crowd. "We must return Thailand to the path of democracy through civil disobedience."