Thailand's anti-government protesters agreed Tuesday to try to settle their differences with the government to prevent more bloodshed, raising hopes of an end to a tense crisis that has claimed 27 lives.

Anti-government demonstrators cheer during a speech at a rally Tuesday, May 4, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

But the "Red Shirts" said they would not end their mass rally in the heart of the capital yet, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to make clear when he will dissolve parliament for elections and to withdraw troops.

"Red Shirt leaders unanimously agree to join, and welcome, the reconciliation roadmap proposed by the prime minister to prevent further loss of life," protest leader Veera Musikapong announced from the rally stage.

Abhisit said in a nationally televised address late Monday that he was ready to hold elections in mid-November if all parties accepted his reconciliation plan.

But the protesters said the premier should spell out when he will dissolve parliament and leave it to the Election Commission to set the poll date.

"We will continue the rally until Abhisit says clearly when he will dissolve the House. Then we will discuss our next move," another protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, told reporters.

"Reconciliation must be achieved not by intimidation and the use of force but with complete freedom," he said.

Thai shares surged 4.37 percent as investors cheered signs of a breakthrough in the long-running impasse.

The protests by thousands of mostly poor or working-class Reds -- now in their eighth week -- have paralysed Bangkok's commercial heart.

A series of deadly clashes between the demonstrators and security forces have left 27 people dead and nearly 1,000 wounded in the country's worst civil unrest in almost two decades.

Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- whose is idolised by many of the protesters -- called for the two sides to settle their differences.

"Reconciliation is good for everybody," he said in a phone-in to a meeting of the opposition Puea Thai Party. "Today, don't think about the past but look to the future. That is how national reconciliation will happen."

Many of the "Red Shirts" are seeking the return of the telecoms tycoon-turned-politician, hailing his policies for the masses.

Arrest warrants have been issued for many leading Red Shirts, who have been defying a ban on rallies under a state of emergency in the city.

The authorities are ready to discuss an amnesty for protest leaders, according to a government source.

"The government wants to create a good climate and end the protests. Details will be discussed later. However, one of the topics that will discussed is related to an amnesty," the source told AFP, asking not to be named.

The British-born, Oxford-educated head of the establishment Democrat Party does not have to go to the polls until the end of next year.

Some observers say that when he does face the people, his failure to connect with the rural masses means he faces a tough battle against the pro-Thaksin forces that have won every election for a decade.

Abhisit's party came to power via a parliamentary vote in 2008 and for Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thailand expert at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, it will be "very difficult" for him to win an election.

"Because he represents the Bangkok elite, it's hard to win the hearts and minds of the people in the north and northeast," the analyst said. "Meanwhile Thaksin remains hugely popular in those regions."

The Red Shirts have fortified their sprawling protest site in the city's main shopping district with barricades made from piled-up truck tyres, razor wire and bamboo stakes.

Many of the protesters have been sleeping on the streets for weeks with little or no shelter and fatigue appears to be setting in, along with the start of the rainy season.

Their campaign has caused several hotels and major stores to shutter their doors temporarily and prompted foreign governments to warn against travel to the "Land of Smiles".