BANGKOK, Thailand - October 7, 2008 - In a day of street battles that left one person dead and nearly 400 people injured, anti-government protesters surrounded the Parliament building on Tuesday, trapping hundreds of lawmakers inside throughout the afternoon.

Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat escaped over a back fence in the morning after delivering a policy address. But other members were unable to leave for more than five hours, when the police dispersed the massed protesters with volleys of tear gas and cleared the way for them.

The Thai military announced that it would deploy unarmed troops to help the police keep peace in the days to come.

“We ran, ran, ran,” said one Parliament member, Niyom Vejkarma, who had stripped off his jacket and tie and fled from the building in his patent leather shoes.

“My eyes are sore,” he said, referring to the tear gas that lingered in the air as he and fellow lawmakers stood at a street corner with their cell phones and called their drivers.

The assault on Parliament escalated a six-week sit-in on the grounds of the Prime Minister’s office, less than a mile away, that had forced the government to relocate its activities to a former international airport.

The assault and street battles appeared to have been well planned and well supplied. Protesters distributed food, water and masks to protect against tear gas.

They made barricades of tires and razor wire and secured the entrance to the Parliament building. Groups of reinforcements arrived during the afternoon, some carrying banners.

The police attacked repeatedly, firing tear gas canisters and chasing protesters down alleys.

The protesters, some wearing motorcycle helmets and masks, some armed with metal rods, machetes and slingshots, threw back the tear gas canisters and used rocks and firecrackers as missiles.

During the day of violence, protesters also set fire to parked cars and trucks and smashed the windows of police vans.

A photographer for Reuters said that a protester fired around a dozen shots from a handgun at a line of riot police. It was unclear if any were hit.

Ed. Note: It is a sad commentary that we will likely never see anything like this again in the United States!