BANGKOK-
Violence broke out in Bangkok, as Thai police began clearing protest sites in the capital, leaving three dead. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is expected to face charges over a controversial rice subsidy schemes.
Demonstrators have occupied official sites over the past few months, calling on the government to step down. The government has announced that it wants to retake all the besieged buildings this week.
The prime minister’s office, Government House, has been a focal point for the demonstrators. Thousands gathered outside the building on Monday, cementing the gates shut in a bid to stop officials returning to work.
Early on Tuesday, police started negotiations with the protesters, which boiled up to violent clashes near Democracy Monument in central Bangkok.
One police officer and two protesters were shot dead, the Erawan emergency medical services said.
According to report, police were also injured by grenade attacks and shrapnel from bomb blasts, while they were also reported to open fire on demonstrators.
The Erawan centre said that around 60 people were injured.
Until now, police had been hesitant to use force against the protesters.
Elsewhere, police reclaimed the besieged Ministry of Energy, with around 100 protesters arrested.
Also on Tuesday, Thailand’s official anti-corruption commission said it would charge PM Yingluck with improperly handling the government’s rice subsidy scheme.
Yingluck proceeded with the scheme despite warnings it was prone to corruption and could cause losses, the National Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement.
The programme saw the government buying farmers’ crops for the past two years at prices up to 50% higher than world prices.
The prime minister had been summoned to hear charges on 27 February, the commission added.
Reports say she could potentially be impeached and removed from official duties.
Yingluck leads a government that won elections in 2011 with broad support from rural areas.
The anti-government protesters want her to step down, and her government to be replaced by an unelected “people’s council” to reform the political system.
They allege that money politics have corrupted Thailand’s democracy and that Ms Yingluck is controlled by her brother, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
Yingluck called snap elections on 2 February in a bid to pacify protesters but the polls were boycotted by the opposition, and voting was disrupted by protesters at around 10% of polling stations, leading to a need for by-elections before a government could be formed.