Bangkok Protesters Hurt in Anti-government Clashes

At least 65 people were injured in Bangkok today after riot police broke up a blockade of parliament using teargas.

Seven protesters were seriously injured including a man whose left leg was blown off at the knee by gunfire, and another who was hit in the chest with shrapnel.

Bangkok's deputy policy chief, Umnuey Nimmanno, defended the use of teargas and denied any other weapon had been used. "It is conventional practice in dispersing a crowd. We did not use disproportionate force," he said.

After the rally dispersed, 5,000 demonstrators regrouped to shout down the first policy speech to parliament by Thailand's new prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat.

They also blocked all four entrances to the parliament building, locking MPs and ministers inside and cutting off their water and electricity supply with the help of sympathetic state utility workers.

At one point a sewage lorry tipped its load outside the building, according to Reuters.

Somchai opened the parliamentary session after a 90-minute delay but as he spoke unrest spread outside.

"We will be here all day today. We will fight here," said Sirichai Mai-ngam, one of the leaders of People's Alliance for Democracy, who organized the protest.

The latest violence comes after six weeks of political crisis that has gripped Thailand and virtually paralysed the government.

The alliance claims that Somchai is a proxy for his brother-in-law, the former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown by the military in 2006.

An army spokesman, Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, said the military was "concerned" about the violence against unarmed protesters and that any serious injuries should be investigated.

He dismissed speculation of a military intervention to end the unrest in Thailand. The military has staged 18 coups since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

The alliance wants a major overhaul of the electoral system. Protesters claim Thailand's rural majority is too poorly educated to responsibly choose a government and is susceptible to vote buying. There are also demands for some MPs to be chosen by professions and social groups.

Somchai was sworn in as prime minister on September 25 but has been forced to run the government from a makeshift office at Bangkok's airport.

When protesters originally took over the grounds of government house in August their intention was to oust then prime minister Samak Sundaravej whom they also accused of being a puppet of Thaksin.

Samak was dismissed from office a month ago after being found guilty of accepting money for hosting a TV cookery show while in office.