BANGKOK, THAILAND — An explosion in the Thai prime minister's office compound injured about 45 people, an emergency official said early today.
The blast at the Government House, which has been occupied by thousands of anti-government protesters since August, occurred about midnight Saturday during a rally by supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy, officials said.
At least four people suffered serious injuries when the explosion, apparently caused by a grenade, shook the rally area, according to emergency officials and news reports.
In an earlier incident Saturday, several hundred protesters at Suvarnabhumi Airport, many of them armed with iron rods and tossing firecrackers, attacked a checkpoint, causing about 150 riot police officers to flee. A perimeter set up by police had prompted speculation that authorities were preparing for a raid to end the siege, which began Tuesday.
Members of the alliance have vowed to remain at Suvarnabhumi, which is a major international airport, along with the domestic Don Muang airport and the Government House, the country's top administrative center, until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat steps down.
About 100,000 foreign travelers remain stranded in Thailand and that number could skyrocket if anti-government protesters continue to control Bangkok's main airports, news outlets reported Saturday.
With the occupation of regional air hub Suvarnabhumi, the mass cancellation of flights has played havoc with Southeast Asia's air traffic, forcing airlines to reroute travelers and freight. Suvarnabhumi is the world's 18th-busiest airport and handles about 3% of all air cargo.
The government has begun flying marooned tourists out of Utapao, a small military airfield about 80 miles south of Bangkok. Many travelers are resorting to overland travel to Cambodia or Malaysia.
John Guislin, a 58-year-old software developer from Palo Alto, was stranded Tuesday after a vacation in Bhutan. Two days later, with protesters tightening their blockade, he and his wife rented a taxi for the more than 30-hour drive to Singapore.
"We had heard about the trouble in Bangkok but didn't know how bad it was until we saw the thousands of people at the airport," Guislin said. "It was just bad timing."
Thailand's vital tourism sector could lose more than $4 billion over the remainder of the year, officials estimate, and as many as 2 million tourists are expected to cancel plans to visit the "Land of Smiles." The national carrier, Thai Airways, is reportedly losing $14 million a day.
