Protesters target Thai polls

The Election Commission's appeal came after the attack on an anti-government rally in Bangkok left at least three people dead early Thursday.

Because of security fears, the Election Commission had rescheduled talks with interim Prime Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan the previous day and moved them to an air force school in northern Bangkok. On Thursday, Niwatthamrong and the commission found themselves confronted with hundreds of protesters who stormed the meeting and forced the caretaker premier to flee.

"The election on July 20 is no longer possible," Election Commission Secretary-General Puchong Nutrawong said. "It must be postponed." He called August one possibility.

Protesters want the Senate to remove a caretaker government loyal to Yingluck Shinawatra, deposed last week along with nine ministers for abuse of power. The regime's opponents call the caretaker government a puppet for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - Yingluck's brother, ousted in a 2006 coup after frictions with the royalist establishment. The telecommunications billionaire has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a jail term for graft charges that he calls politically motivated.

Dissidents say elections without reforms would further play into a corrupt political culture. Parties allied with Thaksin have won every election since 2001 - and have seen four premiers removed by coups or courts. Protesters believe such an outcome would also result from any election held before reforms.

Grenade attack

Protesters were hit early Thursday with a grenade attack that killed at least three people. One of the dead was said to have been sleeping, and another was believed to have been guarding the protesters‘ camp. According to Bangkok's Erawan Medical center, 22 people were wounded.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Paradorn Pattanathabutr, a security adviser to the prime minister, said the attack might have come as a reaction to pressure by the anti-government side to force the Senate to appoint a new premier.

Fears have grown over the past week that the political discord could in turn be played out on the streets, with "Red Shirt" supporters of Yingluck's Puea Thai party - who have vowed to defend the government - rallying in a nearby suburb of the capital. The Red Shirts have become increasingly disgruntled since Yingluck's removal from office, warning of a civil war if their government is deposed and a new prime minister appointed.

mkg/kms (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)