By Alan Raybould
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency Sunday to quell political unrest and threatened to take tough action against protesters who are gathering in greater numbers in Bangkok.
Troops fired into the air when anti-government protesters stormed the interior ministry later Sunday. The crowds mobbed the prime minister's car and beat it with clubs as he drove away from the ministry.
Supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra triggered the emergency when they stormed the venue of an Asian summit in the southern resort of Pattaya, forcing the government to cancel the meetings. Some leaders had to flee by helicopter.
After declaring victory there, the "red shirt" Thaksin supporters have been gathering all day at Government House in central Bangkok. By 1200 GMT they numbered around 40,000.
In his nightly phone-in to the demonstration, Thaksin said now was the "golden time" for the protesters to rise up against the government after soldiers deployed on Bangkok streets. Thaksin is in voluntary exile somewhere abroad.
Thaksin repeated his call for a "people's revolution" and said he was ready to move back to Thailand to lead a people's uprising if there was a coup.
Thailand has seen 18 coups since 1932 and another one is certainly a possibility if there is blood in the streets.
The cancelled summit and now the heightened tensions in the capital have undermined confidence in the government and dealt another blow to the economy, still reeling from last year's political chaos and the global financial crisis, analysts said.
Thaksin's absence has not healed the divisions between on the one hand the royalist, military and business elite, who say he was corrupt, and on the other hand the poor, who benefited from his populist policies.
ARMOURED VEHICLES
Abhisit appeared on television to warn Thaksin's supporters they face tough measures under the state of emergency.
"We want to ask you to stop such action. It is necessary for the government to adopt the measures allowed in the emergency decree, in order to get the nation back to peace," he said in a televised statement, hours after his car was attacked.
Some armoured vehicles have appeared on the streets but no action has been reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who oversees security, urged the military and police to do their job.
"Actions must be taken promptly and order be restored as soon as possible. Your superiors and I will take responsibility for all your actions," he said in a statement on television.
A Reuters journalist at the Interior Ministry said soldiers initially made no effort to stop protesters entering the premises but later fired into the air to stop others getting in.
Some protesters had disabled the tracks of two armoured cars near police headquarters. Others danced on top of the vehicles.
An army spokesman said on television the public should not be alarmed to see such vehicles. This was not a coup, but part of the security measures Abhisit has ordered, he said.
Up to 300 police with riot shields were deployed about 200 metres (yards) from the demonstration at Government House -- the focus of the protests since late March.
Leaders of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) said they were holding one of Abhisit's security guards, claiming he had shot dead a protester at the ministry.
Independent witnesses saw no one shot and Abhisit's spokesman, Thepthai Senpong, dismissed it as propaganda.
A Reuters reporter saw the man's badge, confirming he was part of Abhisit's detail. He said the guard was badly beaten up when he was brought to the Government House site where demonstrators later treated his wounds.
Speaking from a makeshift stage, UDD leader Jakrapob Penkair said the Thaksin supporters were ready to defend themselves.
"They are trying to force us into a people's war. We will bring more people to Government House because the best way to defend ourselves is with numbers," he said.
PETROL BOMBS
The demonstration in Bangkok had earlier appeared to be winding down as people left the capital ahead of the three-day Thai New Year holiday from Monday, but it ramped up again after the emergency was declared.
A Reuters reporter saw more than 100 petrol bombs, wooden stakes and metal poles. Surgical masks were being handed out.
Police said they had arrested Arismun Pongreungrong, a popular singer prominent in the UDD's disruption of the summit, and were holding him at a police station north of Bangkok.
Abhisit suffered political humiliation when the summit he had presented as a sign of the country's return to normality had to be cancelled after the "red shirts" broke into the venue.
Thaksin's supporters say Abhisit became premier last December only because of parliamentary defections which the army engineered. They want new elections, which they would be well placed to win.
Thai financial markets are closed until Thursday for a holiday. Patareeya Benjapolchai, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, said he 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.
(Additional reporting Viparat Jantraprap, Martin Petty, Vithoon Amorn; Writing by Bill Tarrant, Editing by Jonathan Wright)