A grenade blast wounded 46 anti-government protesters in Bangkok, Thai television stations reported today, the latest escalation in the country's increasingly violent political crisis.
The blast occurred around midnight at Government House, where thousands of supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), who have occupied the prime minister's compound since August in a bid to unseat him, were attending a rally.
Channel 3 television showed footage of the wounded being rushed to hospital in pickup trucks.
"I had come down from the stage about 30 minutes before the grenade dropped into a crowded area," PAD leader Suriyasai Katasila told Channel 3.
He blamed pro-government supporters for the attack, which came hours after the PAD tightened its grip on Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport, attacking police checkpoints set up to stop more people from joining the blockade.
The airport sit-in, aimed at forcing out prime mMinister Somchai Wongsawat, has paralysed flights, has stranded thousands of passengers and sparked rumours of a military coup, even though the army chief has said he will not seize control.
The government said tourism was suffering and the number of visitors to Thailand could fall by half next year.
In the latest clash, about 150 riot police fled their checkpoint near Suvarnabhumi on Saturday night after they were attacked by PAD militants armed with iron rods, slingshots and hurling firecrackers.
The PAD, which invaded the airport four days ago, then stationed guards on the expressway exit to keep police at bay.
The closures of Suvarnabhumi and the city's old airport Don Muang, a big domestic hub, have crippled the tourism industry during the peak end-of-year season.
Mr Somchai, who has refused to quit, imposed emergency rule at the airports two days ago but police have made no moves to evict the thousands of protesters.
The PAD, a coalition of royalist businessmen, activists and academics who accuse Mr Somchai of being a puppet of his brother-in-law, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, seized the airports in a "final battle" to unseat the government.
The airports crisis has increased pressure on the army to oust the prime minister, as they did Thaksin in 2006, after Mr Somchai rejected military calls to quit this week.
But army chief Anupong Paochinda has said he would not take over, arguing the military cannot heal fundamental political rifts between the Bangkok elite and middle classes, who despise Thaksin, and the poor rural and urban majority who love him.
Reuters