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Bangkok grendade attack on demonstrators
Investigators look over the scene of a fatal grenade attack on anti-government protestors in Bangkok. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Investigators look over the scene of a fatal grenade attack on anti-government protestors in Bangkok. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Fatal grenade attack on Thai anti-government protestors

This article is more than 15 years old

One man was killed and 29 wounded today in a grenade attack on anti-government protestors laying siege to the Thai prime minister's office in Bangkok.

The explosion – which activist leaders blamed on the government – was the latest attack on demonstrators occupying the grounds of Government House, but it was the first fatality and marked an escalation in the violence.

Leaders of the People Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group held emergency meetings to discuss their response to the blast, heralding the prospect of further trouble amid Thailand's existing political turmoil.

Sondhi Limthongkul of the PAD afterwards accused the "murderous government" of having a hand in the incident and called for a mass rally to parliament on Sunday to show the demonstrators' anger.

The death of the 48-year-old man brings to five the number killed in political violence as police, backers of the PAD and supporters of the government have clashed in vicious street protests.

The bomb, shot from an M-79 grenade launcher positioned on a nearby building, according to the PAD, landed on an awning underneath which activists were lying listening to a band.

The blast triggered pandemonium as people rushed to tend to the injured and ferry them to four hospitals in the area. The man who died was reported to have suffered shrapnel wounds to the throat.

The violence came just hours after the end of a period of calm that marked six days of mourning for the cremation of the Thai king's beloved elder sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana.

The PAD protestors who have occupied Government House since August are demanding that the prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, steps down, claiming he is merely a proxy for his brother-in-law, the former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, who was deposed by a coup in 2006, has vowed to attempt a political comeback. But he is in exile in Dubai, a fugitive from Thai justice after being sentenced to two years jail in his absence for alleged abuse of power while in office, and recently had his British visa revoked.

A week ago the 59-year-old former Manchester City owner divorced his wife of 32 years, Pojaman, for practical reasons, apparently to protect their vast assets and give him freedom to stage a political revival. He denies any wrongdoing and insists the criminal charges are politically motivated.

The PAD, a motley alliance led by monarchist businessmen and retired security forces chiefs, has scored some successes. Its protests claimed the head of one prime minister and two ministers, and came close to fomenting another military coup.

But the renewed violence may also lead to more determined efforts to dislodge the demonstrators from Government House, signalling further uncertainty of the kind that has already paralysed the country's political process.

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