Thai troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of demonstrators, who fought back with guns, grenades and petrol bombs in riots that killed 12 people, Bangkok's worst political violence in 18 years.
At least 521 people, including 64 soldiers and police, were were wounded in the fighting near the Phan Fah bridge and Rajdumnoen Road in Bangkok's old quarter, a protest base near government buildings and the regional U.N. headquarters.
Twelve people died, including three soldiers, an emergency medical centre said.
Among those killed was Reuters TV camerman Hiro Muramoto, a 43-year-old Japanese national who had worked for Thomson Reuters in Tokyo for more than 15 years and had arrived in Bangkok on Thursday to cover the protests.
‘I am dreadfully saddened to have lost our colleague Hiro Muramoto in the Bangkok clashes,’ said David Schlesinger, Reuters Editor-in-Chief.
Hundreds of ‘red shirt’ protesters also forced their way into government offices in two northern cities, raising the risk of a larger uprising against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his 16-month-old, military-backed government.
The US has urged both sides in the conflict to show restraint.
Tension and uncertainty gripped the city of 15 million overnight, with protesters still on the streets and no sign of the government meeting demands for Abhisit to leave the country ande an immediate dissolution of parliament.
In a televised statement, Mr Abhisit expressed regret to the families of the victims and said the army was only allowed to use live bullets ‘firing into the air and in self-defence’.
After hours of violence, army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said troops would pull back in the old quarter as the riot spread into Khao San Road, an area popular with back-packing tourists.
Khao San Road resembled a war zone, a Reuters photographer said. Shop windows were shattered. Cars were smashed. Many people lay wounded on the street. Police told reporters some protesters had ignited cooking gas cylinders and rolled them into troops.
‘If this continues, if the army responds to the red shirts, violence will expand,’ Sansern said after announcing troops were withdrawing from the area.
He said soldiers had been pelted with petrol bombs and M79 grenades, and that some of the protesters were armed with guns.
A red shirt leader later called on supporters to pull back to the main protest sites.
