BANGKOK, THAILAND — Violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters left at least two people dead Tuesday and hundreds injured as tear gas, gunshots and Molotov cocktails filled central Bangkok, officials and witnesses said.
A crackdown on the People's Alliance for Democracy movement erupted into a day of rioting at Thailand's besieged government complex.
"I came to protest, and then the police used violence against the people. I saw my uncle and aunt hit with tear gas. It will only get worse and worse," student Jakkapun Kaewsangthong, 21, said as tear gas canisters exploded outside parliament.
"The world should know the current government has no right to govern this country anymore -- they should resign or retire," Kaewsangthong said. "We will stay as long as the government stays in power."
A 20-year-old woman who had been at the protest died at the Narenthorn Center in critical condition with multiple injuries, officials at the emergency hospital said.
A second person died later when a car exploded, apparently because of a bomb, police officials said.
The mayhem began early Tuesday when police fired tear gas to clear a path through about 5,000 protesters who had blockaded the Thai parliament, where new Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, brother-in-law of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was scheduled to make an official policy address.
After the prime minister hurried through his address and climbed over a back fence to evade the angry mob, he and his daughter fled to nearby Vimanmek mansion, a local newspaper reported.
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New government
The Thai Constitution specifies that a new government has no power until it issues its policies, required within 15 days of being sworn in.
Somchai's predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, was ousted last month after a court ruled that he had violated the constitution by accepting payment for appearing on a television cooking show. Both Samak and Somchai, who was named prime minister last month, have been labeled by some as puppets of Thaksin, who has been charged with corruption and is seeking refugee status in Britain.
After Somchai made his speech and left, lawmakers were locked inside the parliament building as utility workers sympathetic to the opposition cut the water and electricity and protesters barricaded the front gates. Police eventually cleared an escape route by firing more tear gas, inciting further clashes.
