Seven people were killed and 101 wounded in street clashes between Thai anti-government protesters and troops in central Bangkok today, medical authorities have said.
Clashes erupted at several locations in the commercial heart of the capital after troops tried to set up a perimeter around a sprawling encampment occupied by red-shirted demonstrators.
Thai troops opened fire on demonstrators in an attempt to throw a security cordon around their protest site.
Troops fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds at the protesters who hurled petrol bombs and launched home-made rockets on roads surrounding an area of luxury hotels and shopping malls they have occupied for nearly six weeks, witnesses said.
By nightfall, at least five loud blasts were heard followed by bursts of automatic gunfire in the business district. Armoured personnel carriers were seen arriving in the area.
The fresh wave of violence follows an assassination attempt yesterday on a renegade general who had been advising the protesters and was critically wounded during an interview with foreign reporters outside the barricaded encampment.
As night fell, heavily armed troops roamed Bangkok's evacuated business and commercial districts, skirmishing with protesters at several intersections as gun fire and explosions echoed across office towers and apartment buildings. Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd claimed about 500 armed "terrorists" with have joined the protesters.
The army said it did not plan a crackdown today on the main protest site where thousands of the red-shirted demonstrators, including women and children, have gathered, protected by medieval-like walls made from tyres and wooden staves soaked in kerosene and topped by razor wire.
"We will allow protesters to leave the area today," army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters, adding that authorities were attempting to seal off the encampment, cut off their supplies and limit the crowd size.
The turbulence adds to a five-year crisis that pits the royalist urban elite who back Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva against the rural and urban poor who say they are disinfranchised in a country with one of Asia's widest income disparities.
They broadly support former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup for abuse of power and alleged disloyalty to the revered monarchy.
They are angry at what they say is an unelected elite preventing allies of twice-elected Thaksin from returning to power through a vote and had sought immediate elections. They say the British-born, Oxford-educated Mr Abhisit lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a parliamentary vote in 2008.
Underlining concerns that some members of security forces may be sympathetic toward the red shirts, a Thai policeman fired bullets at soldiers while giving cover to a wounded protester, a Reuters witness said. A police spokesman denied that.
The two months of protests have spiralled into a crisis which has killed dozens of people, wounded more than 1,400 wounded, paralysed parts of Bangkok, scared off investors and squeezed the economy.
Thousands of protesters remained defiant today, singing along to live music on stage and calling for Mr Abhisit to dissolve parliament immediately.
In clashes during the day, protesters set fire to a police bus and truck, a motorbike and tyres as they retreated down a road lined with office towers, hotels, the US ambassador's home and several embassies, which were closed and evacuated.
Sporadic bursts of gunfire and grenade blasts have been heard throughout the day. Television showed footage of a mob of protesters beating a soldier.
The latest violence followed tough security measures imposed yesterday evening to reclaim Bangkok's commercial district after the collapse of a reconciliation plan proposed last week by Mr Abhisit. He is under enormous pressure to end the protests, which began with festive rallies on March 12th and descended into Thailand's deadliest political violence in 18 years.
Meanwhile, it is still is unclear who shot Khattiya Sawasdipol, a suspended army specialist better known as "Seh Daeng" (Commander Red). He was shot in the head, apparently by a sniper, while talking to reporters yesterday evening. He underwent brain surgery and remains in stable condition.
The shooting sparked half a dozen confrontations overnight between rock-throwing protesters and armed security forces on the outskirts of the protesters' barricaded encampment.
One protester was shot in the eye and died after a group of red shirts confronted soldiers armed with assault rifles next to a park in the Silom business district, witnesses said. Some protesters hurled rocks and troops fired in return.
Gen Khattiya had been branded a terrorist by the Thai government, which accused him of involvement in dozens of grenade attacks that have wounded more than 100 people.
Reuters