Protesters, Police Clash As Thai Crisis Worsens

BANGKOK, Oct. 8 -- A six-week-old political standoff in Thailand turned violent again Tuesday as police fired tear gas at protesters attempting to derail the legislative agenda of the new prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat.

At least one person died, a woman, from unspecified chest injuries, and news reports Wednesday indicated more than 350 injured. Demonstrators said that two people lost their legs and two lost their arms when hit by tear gas canisters. The police said two officers were wounded when a protester fired a handgun at police lines.

The day-long confrontation, which lefts streets around the parliament strewn with debris, has undone weeks of quiet attempts at rapprochement by Somchai's government and revived fears that the differences that have paralyzed Thai politics for much of the past two years are beyond reconciliation.

The demonstrators are from the People's Alliance for Democracy, which six weeks ago seized the prime minister's office compound in an effort to bring down the government and has continued to occupy the buildings.

On Monday night, 8,000 of the group's loyalists gathered outside the parliament, vowing to block the opening session of the body, scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Police moved in shortly after dawn with a volley of tear gas grenades, sending the crowd running. "They fired without warning," said Somran Rodpetch, an alliance leader. Despite the efforts of the police, hundreds of protesters remained outside the parliament.

Many legislators were able to get into the building, but the protesters moved to block exits and trap the lawmakers. The prime minister was forced to use a ladder to climb over a fence into a neighboring royal palace. His colleagues had to wait until late afternoon before the police could clear a path for them to leave.

Violence erupted again just after nightfall, when demonstrators attempted to breach police lines. The unarmed police responded with multiple rounds of tear gas, pushing the crowds back.

Soldiers were assisting police in trying to restore order Tuesday night, although the military said the troops would not be armed.

Protesters call the government's victory in elections held in December a corrupt legacy of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006 after months of protests by the alliance.

One of the most damaging accusations against Thaksin was that he wanted to abolish Thailand's revered monarchy, one of the country's few unquestioned institutions. Anti-government demonstrators wear yellow shirts as a mark of respect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej; a Bangkok hospital said Queen Sirikit had donated the equivalent of about $3,000 to help the injured.

Somchai, who is Thaksin's brother-in-law, has tried to reach out to the alliance, but it has shown little appetite for compromise. The prime minister repeated his call Tuesday. "We need to revive the economy," he told the parliament. "It's time to reunite and help each other."

The demonstrators are the most visible manifestation of a deep and widening gulf in Thai politics.

On one side is the government, which was elected with a convincing majority late last year with the support of the rural poor, who were, until Thaksin came along, largely ignored by the political elite. He wooed them with plans for health care, education and loans for village improvement and, in the process, welded together a political machine that has proved unstoppable.

The opposition is mostly urban and middle class: Many of the protesters Tuesday were dressed in neatly pressed yellow polo shirts and sported expensive digital cameras; the weapon of choice seemed to be golf clubs. They accuse Thaksin and his successors of fostering corruption, buying votes and trying to overthrow the king.

"I'll be here until the Somchai government quits," said Suwan Kansanoh, a retired government officer who had joined the demonstration with his wife and a neighbor.

But the alliance's campaign has lost momentum of late. Somchai, meanwhile, has been working out of a converted terminal building at Bangkok's old international airport, sidestepping further confrontation over the demonstrators' occupation of his office.