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Calls for revolution: Tourists warned to stay away as violent protesters take to Bangkok's streets forcing PM to flee
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 9:36 PM on 12th April 2009
With Thailand on the brink of anarchy after another day of violence, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for a revolution last night.
He said now was the 'golden time' for protesters to rise up against the government, and he could return from exile to lead them.
His call came after Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva fled Bangkok and declared a state of emergency as protesters stormed the interior ministry and roamed the streets of the capital.
Thai anti-riot policemen stand guard on the street near the Government House in Bangkok as the protest escalates
Troops fired in the air as red-shirted demonstrators surrounded and attacked the car carrying the Prime Minister away from the ministry.
The protests against 'rigged elections' come just a day after a summit of Asian leaders was brought to a halt in similar scenes.
There was a tense stand-off between riot police and supporters of Shinawatra with the government threatening 'tough measures' and hospitals on stand-by to take casualties.
The Prime Minister's driver is injured as they escape the interior ministry after protestors break through security
The Foreign Office today urged Britons planning to travel to the 'Land of Smiles' to 'urgently review' their plans.
Political tensions have simmered since Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption.
He remains highly popular, however, in the impoverished countryside.
In Bangkok today troops fired at least four shots in the air as about 50 protesters broke through security at the ministry in Bangkok with the Prime Minister Abhisit inside.
Bands of anti-government protesters roamed areas of Bangkok as the emergency decree was announced, with some beating up motorists who hurled insults at them.
A car leaving the ministry if vandalised by 'red shirts' protesting
The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, forbids news reports considered threatening to public order and allows the government to call up military troops to quell unrest.
But there were initial signs that the government might not be able to contain the protesters.
Reporters saw red-shirted demonstrators swarm over two of three armored personnel carriers outside a shopping mall in downtown Bangkok, while police stood by as a furious crowd beat a car in which they thought Abhisit was riding with poles, rocks and even flower pots.
Demonstrators attack the Prime minister's secretary Niphon Prompan
'It's apparent that we will be surrounded and suppressed by military force. Tear gas and military personnel have been prepared. So we told our people to be ready and be prepared,' said Jakrapop Penkair, a key protest leader.
'If they use force, the people will be our weapon. We are not scared. Abhisit must be ousted immediately.'
Prime Minister Abhisit suffered a political humiliation when the summit he had presented as a sign of the country's return to normality had to be cancelled yesterday after red-shirted supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke into the venue, sending Asian leaders fleeing by helicopter.
Protesters surround and beat the car carrying Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
Thaksin's supporters say Abhisit only became premier because of a parliamentary stitch-up engineered by the army. They want new elections, which they would be well placed to win.
Yesterday's incident at the East Asia Summit caused Abhisit to declare a state of emergency in Pattaya, a beach resort about 90 miles south of the capital, Bangkok.
Hundreds of red-shirted supporters broke through lines of soldiers and entered the building through a smashed window.
Trees and street signs are flung towards the car by protestors as the Prime Minister flees the interior ministry
'The task for me and the government now is to provide security for the leaders to travel back home safely,' Abhisit said in a brief address on television.
The cancellation is a huge embarrassment for Abhisit's government, which came to power in December via parliamentary defections the opposition says were engineered by the military.
The weekend's events will raise questions about how enduring his government can be after four prime ministers over the last 15 months have failed to resolve Thailand's deep political rifts.
Soldiers drive their tanks on the road in Bangkok today as protests grow over 'rigged' elections
Anti-government demonstrators clamber aboard a Thai Army armored personnel carrier: Armored vehicles
are in the streets of Bangkok following a state of emergency aimed at stemming anti-government protests
Many of the leaders of 16 Asian nations due to attend the summit had already arrived or were arriving in Pattaya on Saturday.
Troops chased after them, but then bolted down the road to the hotel itself to prevent the protesters from reaching the venue where Asian leaders were scheduled to hold a lunch.
After rampaging about the media centre, the 'red shirts' were soon huddling with reporters in impromptu news conferences around the vast conference centre. Among them was a 90-year-old woman in a wheelchair.
Anti-government demonstrators storm past Thai soldiers as they force their way into the 14th ASEAN Summit convention hall today
The East Asia Summit aimed to bring together the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand for discussions about trade, economic issues and regional security.
ASEAN leaders were to sign an investment agreement with China, but that was scrapped after the blockade kept Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa from reaching the Royal Cliff Hotel.
The 'red shirts' had intended to protest peacefully but became infuriated when a group of blue-shirted pro-government protesters arrived on the scene.
Supporters of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra force their way past soldiers as the glass door shatters
'There were at least two cases of shootings aimed to harm our red-shirt supporters, a clear evidence of government supporters possessing guns and using them directly at us,' the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship said.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn earlier described the 'blue shirts' as people 'we believe are concerned about the meetings. They want them to continue, and they want them to continue peacefully'.
Meanwhile red-shirted protesters have also gathered at the capital's police headquarters while a crowd at Government House had grown to over 4,000.
The events will pile more pressure on an economy teetering on the brink of recession, especially if foreign tourists are put off by the scenes of chaos.
Anti-government demonstrators pack the staircase at the venue
Thai financial markets are closed until Thursday for a holiday. After months of falls, many Asian stock markets have rallied in recent weeks but the Thai market has been held back by the political unrest and is flat on the year.
Patareeya Benjapolchai, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said: 'It's really up to the government now how it manages the situation within this five-day break. What happened was a loss for the country. The ASEAN summit was supposed to be a step-up for our economy.'
Newspapers were outraged both by the pro-Thaksin supporters' insult to foreign leaders and by the government's inability to put proper security in place.
'Yesterday was a truly shameful day for our country, which had its international image destroyed,' the Bangkok Post said in today's front-page editorial.
Crazy
