1 dead and hundreds injured in Thai protests

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The assault on Parliament was the culmination of a feud between anurban elite trying to reclaim traditional hierarchical authorityand a democratically elected government backed by a rising ruralunderclass.
The protesters were led by the People's Alliance for Democracy, apatchwork coalition of businessmen, academics and activists thathas held street demonstrations against the government since May andhas occupied the grounds of the prime minister's office for thepast six weeks.
The group accuses the Somchai government of being a proxy for theformer prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was elected in 2001on a populist platform. He was deposed in a coup in 2006 amidaccusations of corruption and cronyism and fled to exile in Londonin August.
Somchai is a brother-in-law of Thaksin. He has sought to find acompromise with the protesters since taking office last month, butthe protest at the Parliament appears to have derailed the earlystages of talks.
The alliance says it wants to modify the country's democraticsystem to weaken the electoral power of the rural poor, who formedthe base of support for Thaksin and now for the governing PeoplePower Party.
The protesters' assault on the Parliament building and the streetbattles appeared to have been well planned and well supplied— demonstrators distributed food, water and masks to protectagainst tear gas.
The protesters made barricades of tires and razor wire and securedthe entrance to the Parliament building. Reinforcements arrivedduring the afternoon, some carrying banners.
The police attacked repeatedly, firing tear gas canisters andchasing protesters down alleys.
The protesters, some wearing motorcycle helmets and masks, somearmed with metal rods, machetes and slingshots, threw back the teargas canisters and used rocks and firecrackers as missiles.
A total of 381 people were injured and 48 were admitted tohospitals, including 4 who lost legs, said the Erawan MedicalCenter, which coordinates responses to medical emergencies. It saidthat one person was killed during the protest and that one persondied in a car explosion.
A police spokesman said several police officers were also wounded,including one who had been stabbed in the abdomen with a metalpole. A Thai newspaper, The Nation, reported on its Web site thattwo police officers had been shot.
Queen Sirikit, the wife of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, donated about$2,900 to Vachira Hospital to help treat the wounded, said thehospital's director, Wanchai Chareonchoktawee. Both sides in thepolitical standoff have claimed allegiance to the highly reveredmonarchy, which has no direct political power but wields enormousinfluence.
"Together we win or lose, we will know it today, we won't give up,"said Anchalee Paireerak, a People's Alliance leader.
Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh resigned early in theday, taking responsibility for the failure of the talks.
In his speech before he fled the building, Somchai said, "Thisgovernment is determined to tackle economic problems and to listento all sides to find a solution to end the crisis."
Somchai took office after his predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, wasforced to step down by a court that had found him guilty ofconflict of interest because he was paid for his appearances on atelevised cooking show.
During the day of violence, protesters also set fire to parked carsand trucks and smashed the windows of police vans.
A photographer for Reuters said that a protester fired around adozen shots from a handgun at a line of riot police officers. Itwas unclear if any were hit.
About three-quarters of a mile from the fighting, an unidentifiedperson was killed when a vehicle exploded near the headquarters ofthe Chart Thai Party, a member of the six-party governmentcoalition. The police said they suspected that a bomb had causedthe explosion.