THE TOLL has since been confirmed at three deaths. Phuketwan relied on Thai news sources and increased the figure to five in error.


TWO protesters have been killed and more than 20 wounded in a deadly attack on street protest rally sites near Democracy Monument in Bangkok early today, according to reports.

Attacks included grenades and gunfire, with witnesses reported explosions and the sound of shots at protest camps about 2.50am.

''The first victim was a protester who was sleeping at Democracy Monument, while the second was a protest guard who died from gunshots,'' police Major Wallop Prathummuang told AFP news agency.

The dead were named as Narayot Janpeach, 21, and Somkon Nonkanai, 51. A doctor at an emergency centre in Bangkok said many wounded had been hit by shrapnel.

There were two attacks on protesters, according to the Bangkok Post. The first came at 2:45am, when men in a white pickup drove by and shot into the guards' line at Khok Hwa intersection.

Both victims were killed in this attack, and 19 others were wounded by the gunfire.

Just five minutes later, the Post reported, attackers fired two M79 grenade rounds into the anti-government support group camping out at the Democracy Monument.

Hundreds of people from Phuket and across the south have joined the protest over the six months of street rallies in Bangkok amid a campaign to remove the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and corruption from government.

Extra buses carried supporters from Phuket to Bangkok yesterday as the protest leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, called for a ''final push'' to complete the removal of vestiges of the Pheu Thai led government.

Khun Suthep told the audience in his nightly televised speech last night that ''the people'' would remove any vestiges of Thaksin's influence later this week, on Saturday and Sunday.

Whether his speech was the trigger for the attacks that followed is not known at this stage.

Talks on whether reforms should precede a new election or come later have stalled in Thailand's Senate. Thailand's first woman Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's sister, was recently removed from her role by court order.

More than 50 nations have issued travel advice to citizens, telling them to avoid the protest areas in Bangkok. Many countries are likely to increase the severity of their warnings after today's killings.

While Bangkok bears the brunt of the protests and the damage the prolonged hiatus is causing to Thailand's economy, Phuket and other tourist areas away from the capital remain unaffected.

Direct flights mean tourists can reach Phuket and the neighboring holiday spots of Phang Nga and Krabi without risk.

However, embassies often make their alerts blanket warnings for all of Thailand. Insurance also becomes a problem.

The Asian Beach Games 2014 remain scheduled for Phuket in November, despite the cancellation of other international sporting events that have been scheduled fro Thailand around the same time.