Thai authorities turn up heat on Bangkok protest

Thai authorities plan to cut water, electricity and food supplies to thousands of protesters occupying Bangkok's main shopping district for nearly six weeks and said they might resort to force if they fail to disperse.                                           

The threats follow the unravelling of a peace plan proposed last week by prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to end a political crisis that has killed 29 people, paralysed parts of Bangkok and slowed growth in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.              
 

Leaders of the mostly rural and urban poor protesters remained defiant on Wednesday, refusing to leave their 3 sq km (1.2 sq mile) encampment in Bangkok's main shopping district and challenging the government from behind medieval-like walls built of tyres, sharpened bamboo staves and large trucks.               
 

"We will die here if we must. Your threat will not work," Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader, told cheering supporters.