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Thailand was locked in political stalemate Sunday with demonstrators planning a fresh protest with their own blood after refusing talks offered by the government.

Buoyed by a huge parade, the defiant "Red Shirts" said they would paint a white canvas with blood left over from the gallons donated by supporters and splattered on the prime minister's house and offices over the past week.

"We will depict our fighting in poems and paintings," Red Shirt poet Visa Kantab told the red-clad crowd gathered at their main rally site in Bangkok's old quarter on Sunday, the eighth day of their protest.

"After we have finished, we will display our artwork on the stage, and after we are victorious, we will frame it as evidence of history," he said.

The Reds back ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and say the current government is illegitimate, as it came to power with army backing via a December 2008 parliamentary vote after a controversial court ruling removed his allies.

In what they have increasingly dubbed a "class war," the mainly poor and rural Reds say they are fighting Thailand's elite in bureaucratic, military and palace circles, whom they accuse of ousting elected governments.

Saturday's carnival-like protests, which swelled to 65,000 people, aimed to recruit urban support and revive their waning rally demanding the dissolution of parliament and immediate elections.

A few hours after the peaceful parade, two small explosions hit Bangkok and a nearby province, targeting a new National Counter Corruption Commission office and a road near the defence ministry.

It was not clear who was behind the late-night attacks, in which one person suffered minor wounds, police said.

Thaksin, who lives in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption, spoke to supporters via videolink on Saturday night, thanking those who took part in the parade. "I'm really proud of you. I almost cried," he said.Key dates in the saga of Thailand's Thaksin

"Today I want to invite everyone to join us to call for democracy. You don't have to wear red, but just have one ideology: democracy," said the ex-premier, who was deposed in a coup in 2006.

Earlier, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the demonstrators had agreed to send two senior Red Shirts to meet one of his ministers and a government official, for talks on Monday arranged by senators.

But after their colourful convoy returned to the main rally site, the Red Shirts stuck to their demands for snap polls.

"We will talk only with Abhisit and with the condition of house dissolution," Nattawut told reporters. He denied that the Reds were "closing the door" on talks.

Abhisit, who has spent most of the rally holed up in an army barracks due to security fears, said Sunday that he would not meet protesters immediately.

"They can talk to me but before reaching that step, they must meet representatives to talk about the outline of talks," he said on his weekly television programme.

"If (the Red Shirts) come it means they are interested in democracy. If not, they are following what Thaksin wants them to do," he added.

A 50,000-strong security force has been in place in Bangkok and surrounding areas during the protests under a strict security law, which is in place until Tuesday but may be extended until a later date if rally goes on, Abhisit said.

Since Thaksin's ouster, Thailand has been rocked by protests by both his supporters and his opponents, many of whom are in Bangkok and accuse him of corruption and of disloyalty to the revered royal family.

AFP