Grenade attack on Thai protesters leaves one dead

Bangkok: A grenade attack on protesters occupying the Thai prime minister's office killed one person and wounded 23 on Thursday, the most serious assault on the three month sit-in at the compound, police and protest leaders said.

The Bangkok Post said an M-79 grenade had exploded near the main stage of the protest, which began in late August to force the elected government from power.

"Last night they threw a bomb at our rally at Government House," PAD spokeswoman Anchalee Paireerak told the crowd.

Police said the attack occurred at around 3:25am, but they were barred from entry to the compound and so had little information.

The Nation newspaper identified the dead person as a 48-year-old man who died of shrapnel wounds to the throat.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest is led by royalist businessmen and academics trying to prevent former leader Thaksin Shinawatra returning to power following his removal in a 2006 coup.

There was no immediate comment from the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is Thaksin's brother-in-law.

Since the PAD overran the Government House compound in August, Somchai has been working out of temporary offices at Bangkok's old airport.