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Rioting follows state of emergency in Thai capital
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-13 07:35

Rioting follows state of emergency in Thai capital
Protesters surround and beat the car carrying Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the interior ministry in Bangkok April 12, 2009. [Agencies] More Photos
BANGKOK -- Swarms of anti-government protesters attacked the prime minister's car, seized control of major intersections in the capital and commandeered buses, bringing new chaos to the Thai capital as the country's ousted leader threatened to return from exile to lead a revolution.

The government declared a state of emergency Sunday but, without the intervention of security forces, it was unclear how any bans could be enforced.

In front of the city's biggest luxury mall, demonstrators danced atop two armored personnel carriers they had forced to a stop, waving flags and shouting "Democracy." The red-shirted crowd swarmed around the vehicles and demanded the keys from the unhappy soldiers inside.

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"Sorry, can't find them," came a muffled reply. The protesters drifted off, and the vehicles left.

The uncertain encounter -- and others like it across Bangkok, where security forces stood by while protesters ran rampant -- reinforced that three years of turmoil between alternating governments and protesters opposed to them seemed ready to peak again. As night fell, demonstrators demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva controlled many streets in the city center. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted.

Outside the Interior Ministry earlier in the day, a furious mob attacked Abhisit's car with poles, stones and even flower pots as it slowly made its escape. At least six people were injured, including two security guards for the prime minister, and one of Abhisit's top political aides and his driver. Police in riot gear nearby did nothing.

Protests were also reported in areas of northern and northeastern Thailand, with one group threatening to blockade the main bridge linking Laos and Thailand across the Mekong River.

Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, regarded by most of the protesters as their leader, called for a revolution and said he might return from overseas exile to lead it.

"Now that they have tanks on the streets, it is time for the people to come out in revolution. And when it is necessary, I will come back to the country," he said in a telephoned message broadcast on loudspeakers to followers who surrounded the prime's minister office.

Political tensions have simmered since Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption and abuse of power. He remains popular for his populist policies in the impoverished countryside, while his opponents -- many in urban areas -- took to the streets last year to help bring down two pro-Thaksin governments, seizing Bangkok's two airports in November for about a week.

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