BANGKOK — Thai soldiers sprayed automatic weapons fire into the air and threw tear gas to clear protesters blocking roads in the capital in the pre-dawn darkness today. Demonstrators responded by hurling at least one gasoline bomb, and 70 people were reported injured, most by tear gas.
Despite a state of emergency that bans gatherings of more than five people, anti-government protesters were stationed at half a dozen points in Bangkok, including the prime minister’s office, police said. Demonstrators used commandeered public buses to block several key intersections, and they set tires on fire.
Around Victory Monument, a major traffic circle, the protesters retreated slightly after soldiers moved in at midday.
Elsewhere, gunshots — possibly fired in warning by soldiers — were heard and troops turned water cannons on the demonstrators.
The clashes marked a major escalation in the ongoing protests that have roiled this southeast Asian nation. The skirmish came a day after the country’s ousted prime minister called for a revolution.
While the government has declared a state of emergency, protesters control many streets in Bangkok. A mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides Sunday. The secretary-general of Abhisit’s office, Niphon Promphan, was dragged from the car and beaten.
The red-shirted demonstrators are supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They want new elections, saying Abhisit’s 4-month-old government took power illegitimately.
