BANGKOK (AFP) — Police fired tear gas Tuesday on protesters massed outside parliament in the Thai capital, injuring 85 people as months of political turmoil boiled over, police and a medical official said.
Nine people suffered serious injuries, the official said, as police tried to disperse several thousand protesters who had surrounded parliament to try to stop a speech by the new prime minister and policy debate.
"Police have had to disperse the protesters by firing tear gas to make way for MPs to enter parliament," Major General Anan Srihiran of the metropolitan police told AFP.
Nanthana Mesprasart, supervisor at Bangkok's emergency medical response centre, said one man had his left foot amputated after it was injured in the chaos, while a journalist was also hurt.
The 85 injured were hospitalised, Nanthana also told AFP.
Thousands of supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) marched to parliament late Monday, using trucks to try and seal off the building where the premier was due to deliver the government's first policy address.
The protesters moved from Bangkok's main government compound nearby where they have been camped since late August, demanding the elected premier step down because of his ties to ouster prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
About 4,500 police including the riot squad fired tear gas and moved in on the rally early Tuesday, police said, managing to clear a road to allow lawmakers and Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to enter parliament.
The house speaker later opened the special session of parliament, despite an opposition boycott of proceedings over the crackdown.
"The Democrats will this morning boycott the session because the government has used force to crackdown on peaceful protesters," Democrat Party spokesman Buranja Smutharaks told AFP.
"This is an overreaction by using excessive force. The government must take responsibility," he said.
Somchai, who was sworn in on September 18, ploughed ahead with his speech, which the constitution says he must read to parliament before his new government can begin implementing its policies.
He said his new government was "determined to create national reconciliation", as up to 4,000 protesters who had been pushed away from parliament regrouped nearby.
An AFP correspondent on the scene said police fired fresh rounds of tear gas on about 600 protesters gathered by the Royal Plaza near parliament, hours after the first crackdown, sending people scattering.
Lieutenant Colonel Thanee Sanguanjeen, a senior police officer, estimated that up to 4,000 protesters remained scattered throughout the historic district, and many regrouped outside the Bangkok police headquarters.
Protesters also briefly cut the power to the parliament building.
Thai media, meanwhile, announced that Queen Sirikit was donating 100,000 baht (3,000 dollars) to pay medical expenses for the wounded protesters, who claim they are carrying out their campaign out of loyalty to the palace.
The PAD began their protests in late May claiming the PPP's plan to amend the constitution was aimed at helping Thaksin escape graft charges, and they stormed Government House on August 26.
Former prime minister Samak Sundaravej was forced from office weeks later after a court ruled he had accepted illegal payments for a TV show, and his successor Somchai formed his new government last month.
Somchai has urged the PAD to leave his offices by November, and appointed his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to negotiate with their leaders.
Those talks were jeopardised over the weekend with the arrest of key PAD head Chamlong Srimuang and protest organiser Chaiwat Sinsuwong.
A protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul told the crowds who remained at Government House late Monday that the march on parliament would be their "final battle."
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