By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, — A man was killed and at least 40 were injured, some by with gunshots, when pro- and anti-government supporters clashed near the seized Government House early this morning, forcing hundreds of Thai soldiers to move in to restore order.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has declared a state of emergency in the capital, and instructed Army Chief Gen Anupong Paojinda to take control of the security aspect.

Bangkok, however, remains calm despite the violence, as people continue to go to work. However, several schools and universities have been closed for a few days.

The violent confrontation began at 1am when hundreds of pro-government groups marched from their site in Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace and reached the Makkawan Bridge an hour later where they were met by guards of People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who had been camping there since May 25.

During the clash just outside the army and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific headquarters, pro-government supporters, wearing red t-shirts and headbands, broke the police barrier and confronted the PAD group, mostly clad in yellow.

Several shots were fired during the clash and both sides fought with sticks, helmets and PVC pipes while some were using slingshots and stones. Bullets were scattered on the road as dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene to ferry the injured.TV images showed a man lying on the street being kicked repeatedly by several men while another man was dragged from his motorcycle and assaulted.

At about 3am, hundreds of soldiers, armed with batons and shields, but not carrying guns, took to the street under order from Anupong and joined riot police, who had only shields, to restore order. Both
confronting sides were separated from each other by soldiers and police as tension ran high.

This was the most violent incident since Aug 26 when thousands of PAD supporters, bent on overthrowing Samak’s government, seized his office at the Government House and temporarily took control of the National Broadcasting Television (NBT).

On Friday, minor scuffles occurred and several anti-government supporters were injured when police tried to break up the protest by PAD supporters in the southern provinces, leading to the closure o f the Phuket and Krabi international airports for two days, Hatyai airport for a day while railway services remained shut down.

Until this morning, the military had refused to step in despite many calls from PAD for it to stage another coup as they claimed the current government which took office in February is a proxy of ousted
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, who became premier in 2001, was overthrown on Sept 19, 2006 after months of massive demonstrations held by PAD. Thaksin, facing several corruption charges, returned to the country in February but fled to seek asylum in Britain last month.

Yesterday, 43 state enterprise labour unions warned that about 200,000 workers would strike from Wednesday onward if authorities use force to break the PAD protests. The unions threatened to cut water and electricity supplies to the residences of Samak, his cabinet ministers and police stations.