Thai government rejects protest talks offer

The government in Thailand has rejected an offer of mediated talks with red-shirt protesters aimed at ending an creasingly violent confrontation.

Ministers say they will only enter into talks brokered by the country's Senate if the anti-government protesters end their rally

But analysts doubt such negotiations will halt the spiralling violence, which has claimed 38 lives since May 13.

A group of 64 senators in the 150-member Senate proposed the talks and offered to mediate with the protesters, urging a ceasefire on both sides.

The government has not responded and a group of 40 other senators with more pro-government leanings have called on the red shirts to surrender and enter the court process.

Troops have surrounded thousands of anti-government demonstrators in the fortified camp they have occupied for six weeks in central Bangkok, as soldiers armed with assault rifles skirmish with protesters on several major roads in the capital.

Pockets of violence have erupted in several other parts of the capital in recent days.