Thai PM addresses nation after rejecting protesters’ offer to end blood-stained crisis

Thai PM addresses nation amid blood-stained crisis

BANGKOK — Thailand’s embattled prime minister is addressing the nation after rejecting a compromise offer from protesters demanding new elections.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva spoke on national television Sunday after the breakdown of talks with the protesters who say his government is illegitimate.

Violent clashes have killed at least 26 people and wounded nearly 1,000 others since the “Red Shirt” protesters began occupying key tourism and shopping areas of central Bangkok more than a month ago.

The conflict has been characterized by some as class warfare, pitting the country’s vast rural poor against an elite that has traditionally held power.