Protesters gather outside Thai parliament An escalating political brawl over efforts by Thailand's ruling party to amend the country's constitution and facilitate the return of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra threatened to reignite mass protests that engulfed Bangkok in deadly street violence in 2010. Several thousand "red shirt" protesters loyal to Mr Thaksin and his sister, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, gathered outside parliament in Bangkok on Thursday to protest the intervention last week by the Constitutional Court, which ordered parliament to suspend reading of a bill aimed at amending the 2007 constitution. The court argued it had the right to halt parliamentary deliberations in order to examine any proposal to tamper with the constitution. The protesters, brandishing a petition with 10,000 signatures, demanded the resignation of the court's nine judges and threatened mass protests. Pro-government MPs suggested they would proceed with the bill's final reading on Friday - a move that could provoke clashes between their supporters and the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy, which is broadly aligned with the Democrat party of former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. "Did they fall asleep and didn't know we got our power from the election?" said deputy prime minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, referring to the judges. This is too much and no one can accept this. The 2007 constitution was a creation of the 2006 coup d'etat that ousted Mr Thaksin. Supavud Saicheua, managing director of Phatra Securities, said: "The red shirts would clearly want to undo all vestiges of the coup and restore the 1997 constitution, which provides more power to elected officials as opposed to appointed constitutional court judges and senators." While the court is in the red shirts" sights, a more contentious issue are four so-called "reconciliation bills" now before parliament. The bills propose an amnesty for those accused of crimes related to the six-year political crisis, from the 2006 coup to the 2010 violence and beyond. The bills would annul Mr Thaksin's conviction on corruption-related charges and enable him to return from self-imposed exile. More significant, Mr Thaksin could reclaim Bt46bn ($1.4bn) of assets confiscated when he was convicted in absentia on corruption-related charges. Protesters of various colours have besieged parliament over the past week to express support and opposition to the amnesty bills. "We are seeing a return to crisis politics," said Duncan McCargo, professor of Southeast Asian politics at Leeds University. "Thaksin's impatience concerning his own position appears to be growing, hence the unseemly haste over the "reconciliation" bill." Some analysts warned the upheaval could derail the Thai economy just as it regains momentum after last year's flood crisis, and undermine fragile investor confidence. The Thai stock market has dipped nearly 10 per cent in the past month. "The business sector has still not fully recovered from last year's flood crisis... concerns are justified," said Veera Prateepchaikul, a former editor of the English-language Bangkok Post. The Federation of Thai Industries, the leading business group, warned that Thailand's export driven growth could falter and foreign investors" confidence drop substantially if the situation worsens, he noted. Others were more sanguine. Sriyan Pietersz, head of research at JPMorgan Thailand, said key factors weighing on the market were "global issues" such as the eurozone crisis. Thailand and the region have been "significant outperformers" and investors are using these profitable positions to raise liquidity as risk aversion rises, he said. "Politics is not yet affecting economic growth, although it could begin to affect confidence if the confrontation escalates," he added. Some observers are more pessimistic. "The behaviour of the opposition and the growing sense of resentment among the red shirts suggest that violent confrontation is ahead," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, professor of Southeast Asian politics at Kyoto University. Sadly, compromise is not a popular choice among various actors. Those who protest most are those who want to preserve the old status quo. Sean Boonpracong, who works with Ms Yingluck's advisory team, said red shirt protesters would continue collecting signatures. "The elite as we call them are trying to use the constitutional court to supervise the legislative branch - we are watching an increasingly grave situation very closely."