Assailants kill two during anti-govt. protest in Thailand

Two people including an eight-year-old kid have reportedly been killed and over 40 others injured in an attack on an anti-government protest in Thailand.

Assailants in two pickup trucks attacked the Saturday protest held by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee in Khao Saming District of the eastern province of Trat.

The attackers fired guns at the crowd of demonstrators, according to local police authorities.

The development came as backers of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra vowed on Sunday to stage a confrontation with anti-government protesters that have paralyzed parts of the capital Bangkok, leading to fears of even more tensions in the country.

Leaders of the pro-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) promised to “deal with” anti-government leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, raising the possibility of an ensuing confrontation between pro- and anti-government groups.

“This fight will be harder than any other…. You must think how we can deal with Suthep and those supporting him,” said Jatuporn Prompan, a UDD leader and senior member of the ruling Puea Thai Party, in an address to a cheering crowd of supporters in the Nakhon Ratchasima area, northeast of Bangkok.

Recent protests in Thailand were triggered on October 31, 2013, when the government proposed an amnesty bill that could have pardoned the prime minister’s brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, setting the scene for his return to the country.

The ex-premier, ousted in 2006, has been in self-exile since 2008 to avoid a two-year prison sentence over corruption.

Protesters say Thaksin is the real power behind the current government.