Protests hit police command center

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By Pracha Hariraksapitak REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

BANGKOK | Protesters trying to overthrow Thailand's government attacked Bangkok's police headquarters Friday as demonstrations against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej spread from the capital, disrupting air and rail services.

An estimated 30 people were injured after police repelled the 2,000-strong crowd on a fourth day of protests that have raised fear of major violence and military intervention less than two years after a September 2006 coup.

TV footage showed tear-gas canisters exploding among the protesters, but police denied using them, saying they had only fired rubber bullets.

Protesters also invaded runways or blocked roads at three southern airports, including the tourist island of Phuket, leaving scores of passengers stranded as flights were suspended.

Striking rail workers halted 30 percent of services nationwide, and unionized airline and port workers were urged by their leaders to take sick leave.

In Bangkok, where protesters have occupied the prime minister's compound since Tuesday, some of Mr. Samak's advisers pushed him to impose emergency rule, two government sources said.

But Mr. Samak, who leads a shaky coalition government elected in December, declined to get tough with the protesters ahead of a royal event Saturday.

"I have several tools at my disposal, but I am not using any of them because I want to keep things calm," he told reporters after meeting top military and police officers.

"I will not quit. If you want me out, do it by law, not by force. This is embarrassing in front of the world," Mr. Samak said.

Imposing a state of emergency would allow Mr. Samak to deploy soldiers to disperse the protesters, although army chief Anupong Paochinda said the situation did not warrant it.

"A coup would not solve anything. It will hurt the country's image and worsen the country's situation," he said. The 2006 coup removed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra but it failed to heal the divisions in Thai society.

The protests are led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a motley group of businessmen, academics and activists who accuse Mr. Samak of being an illegitimate proxy of Mr. Thaksin, now in exile in London.

The PAD proclaims itself to be a defender of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej against a supposed Thaksin plan to turn Thailand into a republic - a charge vehemently denied by both Mr. Thaksin and the government.

The PAD assault on police headquarters came hours after riot officers tried to deliver an eviction order and clashed with demonstrators inside the prime minister's compound.

"We are trying to deal with the protesters as gently as possible," police spokesman Surapol Thuanthong told reporters.

The Civil Court later said it had retracted its eviction order while the PAD appealed it.