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BANGKOK - Thai troops unleashed volleys of gunfire in street battles with anti-government protesters across Bangkok Monday, forcing them back to their main rallying site in a final push to end days of turmoil.
Two men were killed and 120 others injured in a day of violence, as troops lobbed tear gas at demonstrators who sent buses hurtling towards lines of soldiers and torched a government ministry with blazing molotov cocktails.
The red-shirted protesters later retreated to their camp around Government House, the office of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a day after the embattled premier imposed a state of emergency in the capital.
Still reeling after the supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancellation of a major Asian summit at the weekend, Abhisit warned the protesters should disperse or face the consequences.
"Those who want to help the government restore normality can return home," Abhisit said in a televised address. "The government has carefully mapped out a plan to implement the law."
He denied Thaksin's claim that authorities were covering up protest deaths.
An army spokesman meanwhile said that while live rounds were fired overhead to "terrify" protesters, only blanks were used in close-range encounters.
Residents near Government House have armed themselves and set up roadblocks,
and the government and hospital authorities said two men had been shot and killed in clashes with demonstrators while seven others were wounded.
"One hour ago there was a serious clash near Government House between protesters and local residents," Cabinet Minister Satit Wonghnongtaey said on
local television.
Satit said that three residents had been shot by protesters, clad in red shirts, and that one 54-year-old had died in hospital.
An official at the Hua Chiew Hospital said that a 19-year-old man had also been killed and five others injured and taken for treatment at the private hospital near the clash site.
"A 19-year-old man was killed with gun shots to the abdomen while the other five people sent from the same clash were injured," a spokeswoman told AFP.
Officials at Bangkok General Hospital confirmed the death of the 54-year-old and said they were treating two more men, one 39-year-old shot in the foot and a 51-year-old man who was bruised.
A spokesman for Bangkok's main emergency service said that 113 people were hurt during the day, including in the battles between demonstrators and soldiers, and the clashes between protesters and residents. Abhisit said 23 troops were among the injured.
Thailand has been mired in turmoil since the military toppled Thaksin in a coup in 2006, but the unrest confronts British-born Abhisit with his biggest challenge since he took office in December.
The so-called "Red Shirts" want him to quit and call fresh elections, saying he came to power through an undemocratic parliamentary vote following a court ruling that drove Thaksin's allies from power.
Troops began the crackdown just before dawn, firing hundreds of rounds into the air after demonstrators blocking a major intersection pelted them with rocks and petrol bombs, AFP reporters said.
Further clashes erupted in the same area throughout the day, with protesters rigging up buses that were directed at phalanxes of soldiers, who responded with long bursts of overhead shots.
As night fell, they began to encircle the protesters inside an area of several blocks but as they retreated the mob threw several petrol bombs into a building in Thailand's education ministry complex, setting it ablaze.
A senior military official confirmed that the aim was to "contain protesters in one single spot and prevent more protesters from going in."
He said there were now up to 4,000 protesters in front of Government House.
Military commander Songkitti Jaggabatara vowed to restore order using "all possible means" and said that while his troops would not instigate violence, they reserved the right to self-defence if attacked.
The military's support after a period of apparent reluctance on Sunday strengthened the embattled Abhisit's hand in the crisis. The army refused to enforce emergency decrees by previous pro-Thaksin governments last year.
But the chaos will hit Thailand's vital tourism industry hard, with the bulk of the trouble erupting just streets away from malls where tourists who had come to Bangkok for the Thai New Year were faced with closed signs.
"You can't see where the situation is going. It's pretty scary and I have two little ones with me," said 43-year-old tourist Sharon Pangilinan, from the Philippines.
The European Union expressed "great concern" at the situation, while Australia, Russia and Hong Kong joined governments around the world in urging their citizens to avoid or reconsider travelling to Bangkok.
Thaksin, who is living in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption but still has considerable influence, appealed for peace in an interview with CNN despite issuing calls for "revolution" in previous speeches to supporters.
"I would like to urge everybody to come together peacefully, not just by force," he said.
- AFP/ir
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