Bangkok ablaze as army routs anti-gov't protesters

BANGKOK - Buildings blazed across central Bangkok early today, torched by rioters after army troops routed anti-government protesters to end a two-month siege.

The government quelled most of the violence but not the underlying political divisions that caused it, and unrest spread to northern parts of Thailand.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva imposed a nighttime curfew in the capital and 23 other provinces and said his government would restore calm. Although seven leaders of the Red Shirt demonstrators surrendered, sporadic clashes with remaining protesters continued after dark.

Bangkok's skyline was blotted by black smoke from more than two dozen buildings set ablaze, including the stock exchange, the main power company, banks, a movie theater and one of Asia's largest shopping malls.

At least six people were killed in clashes that followed the army's storming of the protest camp yesterday. Another six to eight bodies were seen in a temple where hundreds, including women and children, had sought sanctuary.

While many of the rioters were believed to be members of the Red Shirts, there was also a criminal element and young hoodlums involved in the mayhem.

The crackdown began soon after dawn, as hundreds of troops with M-16s converged on the Red Shirts' camp, where nearby high-end malls and hotels have been shuttered by the prolonged protest.

Armored vehicles crashed through barricades of piled tires and bamboo stakes, and soldiers then gradually moved toward the protesters' hub, opening fire with live ammunition and drawing return fire from militants.

Among the dead was an Italian photographer. A Canadian freelance reporter was wounded by shrapnel and a reporter for the British newspaper The Independent was shot in the leg.

The unrest spread, with Thai media reporting that protesters set fire to government offices in the city of Udon Thani and vandalized a city building in Khon Kaen.

TV reports showed troops retreating after being attacked by mobs in Ubon Ratchathani, and more unrest was reported in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand's third-largest.

Rioters also turned their rage on the local media, which has been accused of pro-government coverage. They attacked the offices of state-run Channel 3, setting fire to cars outside and puncturing water pipes that flooded the building.

The seven top Red Shirt leaders who surrendered said they could not stand seeing their supporters being killed.