The troops were in place. Armored personnel carriers were at the ready. It was clear the crackdown was finally coming. At the start of the seventh week of anti-government demonstrations in the Thai capital of Bangkok, security forces were preparing to dislodge thousands of Red Shirt protesters barricading themselves inside the city’s main commercial district. The Red Shirts, armed with grenades, assault rifles and other weapons, vowed to go down fighting. Bloodshed appeared inevitable. And if it came, its biggest casualty could have been the man who ordered in the troops, and who some regard as Thailand‘s brightest political star: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

“In Thailand, the conventional wisdom is that you can not have any injuries, any casualties when dispersing a protest,” Abhisit said during a weekend interview with foreign journalists. The setting was an army base in northern Bangkok where, because of threats to his personal safety, the Prime Minister has been living and working since the protests began on March 14.

The irony was obvious. Previous Thai leaders who had presided over crackdowns were military men, such as Gen. Suchinda Kraprayoon and Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn. The resulting bloodshed led to their resignations and exile. Abhisit, a student of history and a firm believer in democratic values who has never served in the military, had no desire to join their ranks. His opponents, however, had already consigned him there, branding him a tyrant and demanding he quit. Even some supporters, believing his handling of the protests was weak, were calling on him to quit. Despite the perilously fine line he was walking, Abhisit remained calm and composed as he detailed his dilemma. “The public’s patience is running out. We have to enforce the law,” he said. “But we would rather not have to use violence or have a confrontation.” (See pictures of the protests.)

And so, on Tuesday evening, Abhisit made the Red Shirts a final offer of peace. The Red Shirts are mainly supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 military coup and living abroad rather than serve a prison sentence for a corruption conviction. Many are from the lower classes and want Thaksin back in power, believing he is the only politician who cares about them. They see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as an elitist. Speaking on national television, Abhisit, whose term runs to the end of 2012, offered to hold national elections on November 14 – if a five-point roadmap to achieve national reconciliation that he unveiled could be achieved without disruption or violence from opponents. Among the five points is a plan to build a social welfare system for the poor.

Reactions from opposition politicians were positive. “It is now evident that the prime minister has embarked on the right course,” said Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, leader of the Puea Thai Party. Even Thaksin Shinawatra, in a phone interview with Thai journalists, said the timing was good for the Red Shirts to accept the Prime Minister’s offer.

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