An attack on anti-government protesters occupying the Thai prime minister's office has left one protester dead and 23 wounded.
At least 11 of the injured were in critical condition in the pre-dawn attack where an explosive was thrown inside the main gate of the Government House compound in the capital, Bangkok, on Thursday, officials said.
"It's a powerful bomb, so far one has died. We are still waiting for forensic officials and for PAD permission to go into Government House," Colonel Somchai Chueyklin, a local police commander, told the AFP news agency.
Protesters led by the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) occupied Government House in late August accuse the elected government of being a proxy for Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in a military coup in 2006 triggered by massive street protests also led by the PAD.
The group of royalist academics and businessmen has vowed not to leave until the government - led by Somchai Wongsawat, the prime minister and Thaksin's brother-in-law - steps down.
The months-long stand-off erupted into bloodshed on October 7 when police fired tear gas at the demonstrators, sparking clashes that left two people dead and nearly 500 injured.
A number of small blasts have rocked the protest camp in recent weeks, injuring several people.
Thaksin to 'fight back'
And the political turmoil looks set to increase amid signs that Thaksin – who has mostly been living abroad in exile since he was removed – appears ready to announce his return to active politics at a rally in Bangkok next month.
The former prime minister was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail over a land deal by the Supreme Court in October and recently had his visa to Britain - where he has spent most of his exile – revoked.
Now he appears set to tell supporters by phone that he will come back fighting.
Jatuporn Promphan, a legislator from the ruling pro-Thaksin People Power party (PPP), was quoted by Thai daily The Nation on Wednesday as saying that "Thaksin will no longer wait to be attacked, he will fight back by all means".
"Thaksin now believes that the only way for him to survive...is to fight for his name. [He] will announce...that he will return to politics to defend his name," he said.
Jatuporn also indicated that Thaksin's divorce from his wife Pojaman last week was a tactical move to give him more room for political maneuver.
"Thaksin and his wife had decided earlier, after the coup d'etat in 2006, that they would separate if he decided to return to politics. It's a promise between them," Jatuporn said.
PHOTO CAPTION
An anti-government protester lies next to the area struck by a grenade blast at the government house in Bangkok November 20, 2008.
Al-Jazeera