Rallies by anti-government protesters have been largely peaceful in the capital, but tensions outside Bangkok have flared with Samut Prakan becoming the second province where government supporters and their opponents clashed.
Anti-government protesters in Samut Prakan placed flowers by the fence outside the provincial hall, next to a ripped poster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)
Around 3,000 anti-government demonstrators encountered 300 red-shirt supporters at the provincial hall in Samut Prakan on Friday after returning from a rally where they met deputy governor Pongsak Pattanasakpinyo amid tight security provided by 500 police and defence volunteers.
Reports said United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporters were taunting the anti-government protesters outside the compound, some carrying wooden sticks. The standoff led to a brawl as red-shirt members allegedly chased the demonstrators and were countered with water bottles thrown back in return.
No injuries were reported at the incident.
The brawl in Samut Prakan, a red-shirt stronghold, was the second clash between pro- and anti-government groups after an altercation in Pathum Thani on Thursday. Around 200 red-shirt supporters brawled with 100 protesters near the provincial hall and both threw water bottles at each other before the police intervened. Three people were injured in the scuffle.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has guaranteed that rallies against the "Thaksin regime" will remain peaceful, while UDD leaders urged their supporters to stay inside the Rajamangala National Stadium to avoid confrontations. But some protesters and their opponents have struggled to keep their tempers in check.
An angry group of around 300 protesters and 50 kamnan and village chiefs supporting the government shouted outside of the provincial hall in Nakhon Pathom for about 10 minutes after being told they were not allowed to go in to air their grievances with governor Wanchart Wongchaichana. The group was finally allowed to go inside to blow their whistles before returning home.
In Bangkok, the car of Dhamma Army leader Samdin Lertbut's younger brother was burned at his house in Bung Kum district at 2.30am on Friday morning.
Pol Col Sarote Sunsub, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau's division 4, quoted witnesses as saying that they heard the sound of a motorcycle stopping in front of the house and then speeding off during the time when the incident is thought to have occurred.
Mr Samdin said he believed the attack was politically motivated and intended to widen the rift between police and the demonstrators after a rally against them at their headquarter on Thursday.
"The situation is worrying," Pornchai Saengprasert, a political scientist at Silpakorn University, told FM101 radio station.
National police chief Pol Gen Adul Sangsingkaew has meanwhile warned all law enforcement officers under his supervision that tensions at protests could escalate on Friday night and Saturday. He urged police not to go out alone.
A group of academics led by Charnvit Kasetsiri and Nidhi Eoseewong issued a statement to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday calling on her to hold a referendum on whether to amend the constitution to allow the whole charter to be rewritten and then dissolve parliament to stop the political turmoil leading to violence.
Peaceful protests are continuing around the country in provinces including Chanthaburi, Yala, Rayong, Pattani, Trang and Prachin Buri.