Bangkok: Thailand's army said Sunday it would impose a curfew on parts of Bangkok after two days of intense clashes between soldiers and "Red Shirt" protesters left at least 24 dead and more than 200 wounded.
A top protest leader urged the revered king to intervene in the crisis, which has turned areas of the city into no-go zones as troops fire live ammunition at protesters, some of them armed or using slingshots and fireworks.
Sporadic gunfire continued to echo around the fringes of the Red Shirts' sprawling encampment as a swathe of the city was shrouded in black smoke after demonstrators torched piles of tyres in roads. One shop was seen ablaze.
"There will be a curfew announcement in some necessary areas and roads in Bangkok so that police and soldiers can differentiate people from terrorists," army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd told reporters.
The government said schools would stay closed Monday because of the unrest.
A senior leader of the Red Shirted protesters called for the intervention of Thailand's king, saying he was the "only hope" for an end to the two-month crisis, which has left more than 50 people dead and 1,600 wounded.
"As people in this country, we would like his kindness," Jatuporn Prompan told reporters at the rally site, where thousands of protesters were camped out.
"I believe Thais will feel the same, that His Majesty is our only hope."
King Bhumibol Adulyadej chastised both the military and protest leaders during a 1992 uprising, effectively bringing the violence to an end.
But the 82-year-old monarch has been hospitalised since September and has avoided commenting directly on the current crisis in public.
All of the fatalities in recent days have been civilians.
The military on Saturday declared a "live fire zone" in one area where a foreign witness said he earlier saw troops fire towards a group of Red Shirts advancing with a Thai flag. Three bodies were later seen on the ground.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Thai authorities were on a "slippery slope" towards serious human rights abuses by designating live fire zones.
"It's a small step for soldiers to think 'live fire zone' means 'free fire zone', especially as violence escalates," the group said.
