BANGKOK, April 12 (UPI) -- Hundreds of Thai troops and anti-government demonstrators went head to head in Bangkok early Monday, leaving at least 68 wounded, officials said.
All but four were treated for their injuries and released, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The 4:30 a.m. confrontation came 14 hours after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the capital, the report said.
Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told TPBS about 300 red-shirted protesters seized a bus and crashed it into soldiers stationed at Din Daeng District in north Bangkok. The spokesman said Thai troops fired warning shots into the air and lobbed teargas to disperse protesters.
The prime minister made two television speeches in the early hours of Monday in an attempt to restore people's confidence in his administration. In his first TV appearance, he was flanked by his ministers, as well as army and high-level police officials. He appeared alone in his second address.
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Sunday urged his supporters to revolt against the military-run government, CNN reported. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, said in a video-link speech that he would return to Thailand to lead people in a march on the capital if necessary.
Police Sunday also arrested Arismun Pongruengrong, a leader of the "red-shirt" movement -- named for the color of protesters' shirts.
Arismun organized the demonstrators who stormed a hotel Saturday where leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations summit were to meet in Pattaya, CNN said. The summit has been indefinitely delayed.
