Part of central Bangkok is 'live fire zone'

The Thai army has designated an area in central Bangkok as a "live firing zone" in a warning to protesters and local residents.

Soldiers unrolled razor wire across roads leading to the Ratchaprarop area today and pinned Thai and English-language notices saying "Live Firing Zone" and "Restricted Area. No Entry."

The signs indicate soldiers may shoot protesters still hiding there.

Ratchaprarop is a mostly commercial area with high-rise buildings, hotels, and shops. It was the scene of some of the worst fighting on Friday night between troops and Red Shirt anti-government protesters.

Explosions and street fighting have killed 16 people and wounded nearly 160 since Thursday in central Bangkok.

Demonstrators, meanwhile, accused government snipers of picking people off with head shots.

The spiralling violence has raised concerns that Thailand - a long-time tourism magnet that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles" - was teetering toward instability. The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6% of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.

Troops have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds on demonstrators after they set fire to tyres and a police bus on Friday. The government accuses them of using guns, grenades and firebombs.

The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along pavements to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area. They said army snipers had shot all three in the head.

The latest violence erupted Thursday after the Red Shirts' military strategist - a former army general - was shot in the head and critically wounded, apparently by a sharpshooter, as he spoke to foreign journalists.

"The situation right now is getting closer to civil war every minute," a protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, said. "We have to fight on. The leaders shouldn't even think about retreat when our brothers are ready to fight on."

In a message from New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to both sides to "do all within their power to avoid further violence and loss of life."

The Red Shirts, mostly rural poor, began camping in the capital March 12 to try to force out Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. About 10,000 have barricaded themselves in a protest zone in Rajprasong, Bangkok's premier shopping and diplomatic enclave. They have set up a perimeter of tyres and bamboo stakes, refusing to leave until Abhisit dissolves Parliament and calls new elections.

They claim his coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it is indifferent to the poor.

Another protest leader, Weng Tojirakarn, demanded the government declare a cease-fire and pull back its troops because "we don't want to see a civil war. If it does happen, I don't know how many years it will take to end."

The Red Shirts especially despise the military, which had forced Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist premier favoured by the Red Shirts, from office in a 2006 coup. Two subsequent pro-Thaksin governments were disbanded by court rulings before Abhisit became prime minister.

The crisis had appeared to be reaching a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.