Thai protesters battle with police

An uneasy calm returned to the streets of Bangkok today after violent clashes between police and thousands of anti-government protesters last night left two people dead and more than 400 injured. Soldiers have been deployed on street corners to monitor the situation after members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (Pad) demonstrated outside the reopening of Thailand's parliament yesterday. Pad is calling for sweeping electoral changes and trying to force the resignation of the new prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, whom it sees as a puppet of his brother-in-law, the deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Somchai fled the clashes by helicopter after crawling through a fence. Police used teargas to clear a path for MPs entering the parliament building after two officers were shot. One man lost a foot from the explosion of a teargas grenade and a female protester was killed. Somchai told reporters today that using teargas to restore civil order was the "international standard". Some protesters broke away from the main group to target the police headquarters, overturning police vehicles, erecting barricades and fighting with sharpened flagpoles. Despite no signs of renewed street clashes today, troops armed with batons and helmets remained in place outside the police headquarters. Protesters have threatened further demonstrations in the capital as part of a four-month street campaign. A Pad spokesman, Sirichai Maingam, told Thai television: "We can't stand this government with blood on its hands. More people will hit the streets to oust this government." It is the worst uprising since a state of emergency was declared almost two months ago after Pad protesters clashed with government supporters. Somchai has sought to reassure the international community through what is seen as a deepening political crisis, despite the resignation of the deputy prime minister and chief negotiator with Pad, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. "My government is still able to run the country," Somchai told reporters today. The army has denied that the presence of soldiers on the streets could herald another military coup. Shinawatra was deposed in a bloodless coup two years ago while he was out of the country.