General Prayuth Chan-ocha says 'door is neither open nor closed' to military intervention after two months of protests

Thailand's army chief has urged both sides in the country's bitter political dispute to show restraint, but did not explicitly rule out the possibility of a coup.

Thailand has been rocked by two months of violent street protests and political tensions pitting the government of the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, against protesters seeking to remove her from power. The army has staged 11 successful coups in the country's history; in the current volatile climate, its intentions are being watched carefully.

"That door is neither open nor closed," the army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, said in response to questions from reporters as to whether a military intervention was likely.

He also reiterated a request that people stop asking the army to take sides in the dispute. "Please don't bring the army into the centre of this conflict," he said.

On Thursday, protesters seeking to disrupt elections scheduled for 2 February fought police in clashes that left two people dead.

Thailand's election commission also called for a delay in the polls, a blow to Yingluck, who expects to win them handily thanks to her overwhelming support in the country's north and north-east.

Prayuth said the army had shown "red traffic lights to both sides, so things will calm down", and called for an end to street violence. "You ask: 'Who wins?' Who wins?' No one," he said.

Police have made no move to arrest the protest movement's ringleader, Suthep Thaugsuban, who is demanding that the country be led by an unelected council until reforms can be implemented. He has vowed that protesters will thwart the polls through civil disobedience. Authorities must tread carefully, as a crackdown would be likely to provoke greater violence and chaos.

The current tensions date back to 2006, when Yingluck's brother, the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled in a military coup. The protesters accuse Yingluck of being a proxy for Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption but still wields influence.

Thaksin or his allies have won every election since 2001. His supporters say he is disliked by Bangkok's elite because he has shifted power away from the traditional ruling class, which is represented in the current protest movement.