BANGKOK, Thailand - May 13, 2010 - Protesters in the Thai capital reinforced their encampment Friday as government efforts to blockade them overnight led to sporadic violence that killed one man and saw a high-profile Red Shirt military leader shot in the head.

The protesters, who are seeking a change of government, remained defiant of attempts to force them to end their two month protest that has seen them turn an upmarket part of central Bangkok into a heavily barricaded stronghold.

The authorities on Thursday night began to cut power, public transportation and some cell phone service in the area, but music and speeches carried on from the Red Shirt stage and were relayed by sympathetic radio stations. In the morning some protesters were out early to extend their defenses.

With the army expected to add more pressure on the demonstrators, and perhaps try to clear them, the Red Shirts suddenly found themselves without a key ally, a rogue general who served as their tactician for street confrontations.

Major General Khattiya Sawasdiphol, better known by the nickname Seh Daeng, was shot in the head while talking to reporters just inside the Red Shirts' perimeter Thursday evening about an hour after the government's lockdown was launched. He was taken to a hospital in a coma and was in critical condition. The attacker was not known.

Several small street battles later Thursday night saw one man killed and 11 other people wounded. Protesters stopped police trucks and forced them to turn back; they hurled rocks at soldiers, who responded by firing live ammunition, according to an Associated Press cameraman.

Gunfire - most if not all from soldiers - and several small explosions were heard well into the night.