Pro- and anti-government radio stations pitched their voices against one another yesterday as a reflection of the fierce battles on the streets of Bangkok.

The Samut Prakan-based FM101.25 radio station received calls yesterday morning from irate red shirts calling on the protesters to burn down the buildings where snipers were waiting to shoot down leaders and other civilians.

"If we have to burn them down, so be it," one caller said.

Another caller said they might have to kill soldiers to defend themselves, adding that the current regime had become "a cancerous tumour" that had to be removed.

Meanwhile, the view of two female hosts at the pro-government FM97.75 could not have been more different. Both urged their fellow citizens to not be too upset the 30-odd fatalities over the past three days.

"Thirty deaths aren't that many and polls show that people are still supportive of Abhisit," one host told listeners.

"Soldiers are safe and [civilian's losses] are at a minimum. The government is justified in their actions both at local and international levels," the other host said. "Be patient, brothers and sisters. [The military crackdown] is not halfway through and we must be very patient."

She added that a famous astrologer she had met predicted that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would stay in power for a long while yet.

She then cited Thai Post columnist Plaew Si-ngern saying the military would definitely "crush" the red shirts.

On cyberspace, supporters of the government posted messages like "soldiers fight on!", "Why aren't the reds stopping yet?" and "Seh Daeng is dead but he didn't get to enjoy his Bt100 million fortune yet", in reference to Maj-General Khattiya Sawasdipol, who yesterday succumbed to wounds sustained by sniper fire last week. It is widely believed that convicted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra had been funding Khattiya.

Yesterday's reactions were nothing new, people have been calling on the government to crackdown on the red shirts for a while now.

On May 4, Sumitra Chan-ngao wrote on page 19 of D-Life magazine: "[I] want the country to overcome this incident quickly so everyone will be relieved. Don't be sad for the losses because they chose to be there."

The Prachachart Turakij newspaper group publishes the magazine.