BANGKOK – Thai soldiers unleashed hundreds of rounds of automatic weapons fire to clear anti-government protesters from a major intersection in the capital in the pre-dawn darkness Monday. Demonstrators responded by throwing at least one gasoline bomb at a line of troops.
At least 49 people were reported hurt in the first serious clash between the two sides in ongoing protests that have roiled this southeast Asian nation and came a day after the country’s ousted prime minister called for a revolution.
While the government has declared a state of emergency, protesters controlled many streets in the capital Bangkok. They had earlier commandeered public buses and swarmed triumphantly over military vehicles in defiance.
In the starkest example of the chaos, a mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides on Sunday.
The clash began between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., as troops in full combat gear advanced to disperse the protesters, who were occupying a major junction, according to witnesses and television footage.
The soldiers fired hundreds of rounds from their M-16 automatic rifles, though it was unclear whether they were firing at or over the protesters. Some witnesses said tear gas was also fired and Associated Press reporters saw protesters hurl at least one gasoline bomb which exploded behind the army line.
At the nearby Century Park Hotel, foreign tourists were seen rushing into taxis and heading for Bangkok’s international airport.