Clashes, blasts for 3rd day in besieged Bangkok

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Play Video AP – Bangkok battle: Troops fire on rioting protester

• Slideshow:Thailand
• Play Video Video:Thai Protester Shot in the Head ABC News
• Play Video Video:Thai protests again turn violent Reuters

AP – An anti-government demonstrator throws petrol bomb to Thai soldiers in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, …

BANGKOK – Thai troops clashed with protesters for a third day in Bangkok on Saturday, as streets in the center of the Asian metropolis became battlegrounds and authorities struggled to contain Red Shirt demonstrators demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Explosions and street fighting have killed 16 people and wounded nearly 160 since the government attempted Thursday to seal off the 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) zone the Red Shirts have occupied in one of the capital's most upscale areas.

The spiraling violence, which has shifted from street to street over three days, has raised concerns that Thailand — a longtime tourism magnet that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles" — was teetering toward instability because of the two-month-long political crisis.

The army says its troop are not shooting to kill, but protesters during a lull in clashes Saturday crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle. They told an Associated Press photographer that army snipers had shot all three in the head.

On Friday, encircling troops used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds on demonstrators and the protesters in turn set fire to tires and a police bus.

Sporadic clashes resumed in several parts of the city Saturday, and explosions once again echoed through streets emptied of shoppers and tourists, as plumes of black smoke rose amid skyscrapers and hotels.

In a message from New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to both sides to "do all within their power to avoid further violence and loss of life."

But with negotiations terminated, the situation appeared headed toward a final showdown on the streets.

"The situation right now is getting closer to civil war every minute," a protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, said Saturday morning. "We have to fight on. The leaders shouldn't even think about retreat when our brothers are ready to fight on."

The Red Shirt protesters began their latest campaign to oust the government in March, saying it came to power illegitimately and is indifferent to the poor. In several rounds of violence since then, a total 43 people have been killed and at least 1,620 wounded, according to a government toll that includes the most recent clashes.

Protesters have urged 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej to end his long silence and intervene, but there was no word from the widely revered ailing monarch.

"I am gravely concerned that a bloody suppression will only further entrench the culture of ... violence in Thailand," Tyrell Haberkorn, a political scientist with The Australian National University, said by e-mail.

She said the protests stem from the outrage that the marginalized majority feel at the lack of say they have in governance, which is largely in the hands of the elites.

"If one listens to the protestors ... people are willing to risk their lives because they believe that they are making a more just Thai society for themselves, their children and their grandchildren," she said.

The latest violence erupted Thursday after the Red Shirts' military strategist — a former Thai general — was shot and seriously injured, apparently by a sharpshooter, as he spoke to foreign journalists.

Witnesses saw several groups of a dozen or more people detained at the scene of several clashes. No figures were released on how many were detained.

As night fell Friday, defiant Red Shirt leaders led followers in Buddhist prayers and called on volunteers to bring more tires for their barricades.

Another protest leader, Weng Tojirakarn, demanded Saturday that the government declare a cease-fire and pull back its troops because "we don't want to see a civil war. If it does happen, I don't know how many years it will take to end."

The Red Shirts, mostly rural poor, began camping in the capital March 12 to try to force out Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. They claim his coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military.

The military had forced Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist premier favored by the Red Shirts, from office in a 2006 coup. Two subsequent pro-Thaksin governments were disbanded by court rulings before Abhisit became prime minister.

About 10,000 Red Shirts have barricaded themselves in a protest zone in Rajprasong, Bangkok's premier shopping and diplomatic enclave. They have set up a perimeter of tires and bamboo stakes, refusing to leave until Abhisit dissolves Parliament and calls new elections.

The occupation has forced luxury hotels and high-end shops to close for weeks. Major roads around the protest site were blocked to traffic Saturday, and the city's subway and elevated train shut down. The embassies of the United States, Britain and other countries were also closed.

The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy.

The crisis had appeared to be reaching a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.