BANGKOK (AP) – Thousands of anti-government protesters blocked traffic in Bangkok on Friday, a day after Thailand's influential army chief hinted the prime minister should resign because of a violent confrontation between police and protesters outside parliament last week.

The protest on Bangkok's busy streets came amid a deepening political crisis that has nearly paralyzed the government. Protesters accused Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of ordering the violent suppression of a demonstration last week and demanded his resignation.
Somchai abruptly canceled his planned meetings Friday and instead scheduled talks with his coalition partners, government spokesman Nattawut Sai-gua said, declining to comment further. The decision spurred speculation Somchai might resign or dissolve Parliament.
Army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda strongly hinted that Somchai should resign after the confrontation between police and protesters outside parliament last week that killed one demonstrator and injured more than 400 other people, mostly protesters. Dozens of police were also injured.
Some demonstrators had carried guns, iron rods, slingshots and rocks, and rioters torched parked cars, trucks and vans.
""If I were the prime minister and a violent dispersal of the protesters happened and caused loss of lives and resulted in injuries ... I would definitely resign,"" Anupong said in a TV interview, flanked by the commanders of the country's other armed services.
However, Anupong repeated his vow not to stage a coup.
The demonstrators on Friday blocked the streets of a business district and handed out compact discs and packets of photos documenting their Oct. 7 clash with police. Some held posters with photos of Somchai and the police chief with the word ""murderer"" written beneath them.
Somchai ""ordered police to kill protesters. Thais should come out on street to oust the evil government,"" said Somsak Kosaisuk, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy protest group.
Several protesters carried clubs and metal pipes during the march Friday. But only a handful of traffic police were seen nearby.
The People's Alliance for Democracy has called for Somchai's resignation, branding him a puppet of his brother-in-law, deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted by a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and misuse of power.
Somchai become prime minister only last month after his predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was forced from power for hosting TV cooking shows, which a court ruled an illegal conflict-of-interest.