By Alan Raybould
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Troops fired into the air as Thai anti-government protesters stormed the country's interior ministry on Sunday after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the capital.
Abhisit's car was surrounded by protesters, who beat it with sticks and clubs, but television showed it leaving the ministry compound.
A Reuters journalist at the scene said soldiers initially made no effort to stop the protesters from entering the building but later fired into the air to deter others from joining them.
The latest unrest comes a day after protesters loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stormed the venue of a summit of Asian leaders in a Thai resort, forcing the event to be cancelled and seriously undermining confidence in the government.
Scores of red-shirted protesters were also gathering in the area around the police headquarters, but were not in the grounds, a witness said. Some had disabled the tracks of two armoured cars near the headquarters and others danced on top of the vehicles.
Witnesses also saw armoured vehicles at the foreign ministry. An army spokesman said on television the public should not be alarmed at the movement of such vehicles, that this was not a coup, but part of the security measures ordered by the government.
A demonstration at Abhisit's office, Government House -- the focus of the protests since late March -- had grown to over 4,000 people by midafternoon, a Reuters reporter said.
"DECLARATION OF WAR"
Leaders of the red-shirted, pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said they had "arrested" one of the prime minister's security guards and were treating him for head wounds. A Reuters reporter saw his badge, confirming he was part of Abhisit's detail.
Speaking from the stage shortly before the state of emergency was announced, Jakrapob Penkair, a leader of the red-shirted, pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) had warned against any emergency decree and said Abhisit must resign.
"If a national state of emergency is declared, the red shirt movement will regard the government's actions as a declaration of war against the people of Thailand.
"They will try to disperse the crowds, but we will remain at Government House. We will start a peoples' war. This declaration is war against the Thai people," he added.
In a weekly address to the nation, Abhisit said arrest warrants were being drawn up for those responsible for the unrest.
Police said they had already arrested Arismun Pongreungrong, a popular singer prominent in the summit assault, and were holding him at a police station north of Bangkok.
"In the current situation, what I have to do is to bring peace to the country, bring back governance and have a process of political reform," Abhisit said.
POLITICAL HUMILIATION
Abhisit suffered a political humiliation when the summit he had presented as a sign of the country's return to normality had to be cancelled after red-shirted supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke into the venue, sending Asian leaders fleeing by helicopter.
Thaksin's supporters say Abhisit only became premier because of a parliamentary stitch-up engineered by the army. They want new elections, which they would be well placed to win.
The events will pile more pressure on an economy teetering on the brink of recession, especially if foreign tourists are put off by the scenes of chaos.
Thai financial markets are closed until Thursday for a holiday. After months of falls, many Asian stock markets have rallied in recent weeks but the Thai market has been held back by the political unrest and is flat on the year.
Patareeya Benjapolchai, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, was concerned.
"It's really up to the government now how it manages the situation within this five-day break. What happened was a loss for the country. The ASEAN summit was supposed to be a step-up for our economy," Patareeya told Reuters.
Newspapers were outraged both by the pro-Thaksin supporters' insult to foreign leaders and by the government's inability to put proper security in place. Police and soldiers put up little resistance as the demonstrators marched towards the summit hotel.
"Yesterday was a truly shameful day for our country, which had its international image destroyed," the Bangkok Post said in a front-page editorial.
(Additional reporting by Kittipong Soonprasert, Viparat Jantraprap and Vithoon Amorn; Editing by Bill Tarrant )