Clash in Thai protest

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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The fighting occurred as anti-government demonstrators were disrupting traffic on another highway on the other side of town, delaying travelers to and from the city's main airport. Protesters also stormed an international airport terminal in Bangkok, a Reuters reporter on the scene said. Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport closed after protesters began roaming through the sprawling $4 billion terminal as startled tourists looked on.

Police Col. Piyapong Ponvanich told The Associated Press that 11 people were wounded in the clash, most of them government supporters. Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-gua said authorities would beef up security, but that it was premature to talk about declaring a state of emergency.

Second time
The clash began when government supporters threw rocks at a truck carrying members of the People's Alliance for Democracy along a busy highway.

The clash was the second time in recent months that the two sides have fought and marks the first major violence since Oct. 7, when street battles with police and protesters left two people dead and hundreds wounded. In a Sept. 2 clash between the two sides, a government supporter was beaten to death, while two alliance members were killed last week in grenade attacks.