Nabeel Ashri, the Charge d'affaires at the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok, said Friday that procedures to return 25 Saudi nationals to the Kingdom had been completed following the deterioration of the security situation in Thailand. The Saudi Embassy in Bangkok has urged nationals to leave the country following Thursday's series of explosions in the Thai capital, and Ashri said that the mission was coordinating with local authorities to repatriate dozens more in the next few days. “Following the latest developments, the embassy met with heads of missions and offices in Thailand to study the situation and its consequences for Saudis in the country,” Ashri said. “Security measures to protect the embassy, Saudi interests and offices and employees have been stepped up. Embassy staff is helping with Saudis' inquiries around-the-clock.” The embassy announced Friday two numbers - 0066843311011 and 0066875055514 - for Saudi nationals to contact to secure travel arrangements. Three people were reported killed and 70 injured in Thursday's triple bombings in the Silom financial district. Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that five grenades were also thrown into the crowds in Silom. However, “Red Shirt” protesters offered a compromise to the Thai government Friday, saying they would accept dissolution of parliament in 30 days rather than immediately. They also called on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to begin an independent probe into a deadly clash between protesters and the army on April 10 that killed 25 people, and said troops must be withdrawn from areas around their protest site. “The government must stop all threats against our movement,” Weng Tojirakarn, a red shirt leader, said from a stage at their protest site. – Okaz/SG with agencies in the heart of Bangkok's commercial district. The new demands came shortly after army chief Anupong Paochinda told a meeting of his commanders there would be no crackdown on the protesters camped out in the capital because it would do more harm than good. Five grenade attacks in Bangkok's bustling business district on Thursday night killed one person and wounded more than 80 people, fueling concern over the escalating crisis and putting the city of 15 million people on edge. Thousands of red-shirted supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra remain in a fortified encampment at a ritzy shopping area of central Bangkok, vowing to stay until Vejjajiva dissolves parliament for new elections. The grenade blasts near the racy bars of Patpong came 12 days after a failed army attempt to evict protesters from a rally site, which killed 25 and injured over 800 in the country's worst street violence in 18 years. The government's Erawan Emergency Centre put the toll at 1 dead and 88 wounded, including an American, Australian, Indonesian and a Japanese. The violence and deepening political divide has spurred talk of civil war in Southeast Asia's second
