Thai Forces Crackdown on Anti-Government Protestors

The Thai army cracked down on anti-government protesters on Monday, firing warning shots at a major junction in the capital at demonstrators who responded by hurling petrol bombs, witnesses said.

The clashes came two days after protesters forced the cancellation of an Asian summit and have undermined confidence in the government and dealt another blow to an economy reeling from political chaos last year and the global financial crisis.

Bangkok Medical Center director Peeraphong Saicheau told Reuters there had been at least 77 casualties, including 19 admitted to hospitals. Four had gunshot wounds -- two civilians and two soldiers.

A number of protesters had been arrested, said Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Sansern said the fracas began when troops in vehicles with loudspeakers asked the red-shirted protesters to lift a blockade they have maintained for several days at Din Daeng junction, and the protesters refused to do so.

The junction is a crucial part of Bangkok's traffic system and a vital transport artery as the country mobilizes for this week's New Year holiday. Troops fired into the air as they repeatedly charged the demonstrators, a Reuters reporter said.

By around 0900 local time, the two sides were in a tense standoff. Troops had rolled up water cannon and demonstrators had covered the road in gasoline, apparently threatening to set it ablaze if troops moved in.

"We won't leave. We want real democracy," said one "red shirt standing at the junction where protesters had driven six public buses to create a roadblock. "We're not scared of the army," said the man who gave his name as Wi.

Smoke Rising

Fires from petrol bombs blazed nearby, with plumes of smoke rising from burning tyres. Ambulances and firetrucks were on standby.

A Buddhist monk with a megaphone stood in the intersection pleading for calm and telling the soldiers: "Don't shoot, think about your country." Police on motorbikes shuttled between troops and demonstrators to mediate.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on Sunday after red-shirted supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancellation of the Asian summit in the southern beach resort of Pattaya.

Thaksin's supporters say Abhisit only became premier last December because of parliamentary defections the army engineered. They want new elections, which they would be well placed to win.

Some 20,000 "red shirts" were still encamped at Government House, about 4 kms (2.5 miles) where they have been demonstrating for nearly three weeks.

But busloads of them were leaving to reinforce the "red shirt" blockade at Din Daeng junction, Reuters reporters at the scene said. Abhisit had threatened on Sunday to take tough action against the protesters.

He had been humiliated before his Asian peers when the "red shirts" bowled over riot troops at the summit in Pattaya and smashed their way into summit venue. Some leaders had to be evacuated by helicopter.

Thaksin, who has been making nightly phone calls to his supporters from exile, said on Sunday it was now the "golden time" to rise up against the government.

More From CNBC.com

• DBS Shares Climb, Investors Focus on Bank Rally
• China Plans More Stimulus to Boost Consumption
• Japan Wholesale Prices Slide, Deflation Ahead
• More Asia Pacific News

He repeated his call for a "people's revolution" and said he was ready to move back to Thailand to lead a people's uprising if there was a coup. Thailand has seen 18 coups since 1932 and another one is certainly a possibility if there is blood in the streets.

The chaos in the capital is bound to further hit the tourism sector, one of Thailand's biggest foreign exchange earners, and several countries have already warned against travelling to the kingdom.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.