Thai soldiers spray gunfire, tear gas at protest

---

BANGKOK, April 13 (AP): Thai soldiers sprayed automatic weapons fire into the air and threw tear gas to clear demonstrators blocking roads across the capital Monday in a major escalation of anti-government protests that have roiled this Southeast Asian nation.
At least 74 people were reported injured in the clashes, most of them in a pre-dawn confrontation in which the demonstrators hurled at least one gasoline bomb and, according to the military, fired at the troops.
The protesters were stationed at half a dozen points in Bangkok, including the prime minister's office where thousands remained encamped, defying a state of emergency that bans gatherings of more than five people.
The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, saying his four-month-old government came to power illegally.
Protesters commandeered public buses to block several key intersections, set tires on fire and sent two unmanned buses, one of them set on fire, hurtling toward lines of soldiers.
In one of several tense confrontations and cat-and-mouse chases around the city, a line of troops in full battle gear fired volleys of M-16 fire, most of it aimed above the heads of protesters and turned water cannons on the crowd near Victory Monument, a major traffic circle.
Protesters at an intersection near the monument set an empty bus on fire and, after weighing down the accelerator with a bag of water bottles, sent it surging toward advancing soldiers.
The bus swerved and then ricocheted off trees on the side of the road before coming to a halt, with no one injured.
City officials said the protesters have commandeered about 30 public buses and earlier forced military vehicles to halt, in one case climbing on top of two armored personnel carriers, waving flags and shouting "Democracy."
The red-shirted demonstrators are supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who want new elections and Abhisit's ouster. They also accuse the country's elite - the military, judiciary and other unelected officials - of undermining democracy by interfering in politics.
Parliament appointed Abhisit in December after a court ordered the removal of the previous pro-Thaksin government citing fraud in the 2007 elections. Thaksin supporters took to the streets in protest, and their numbers grew to 100,000 in Bangkok last week.
A mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Abhisit and his aides Sunday. The secretary-general of Abhisit's office, Niphon Promphan, was dragged from the car and beaten, suffering head injuries and broken ribs.
Abhisit appealed Monday to the demonstrators to return to their homes, saying the government was using "the softest measures possible" against them.
"All the work I am doing is not to create fear or put pressure or to harm any group of people. It's a step by step process to restore order and stop violence," he said on nationwide television.