Deadly clashes as police besiege Bangkok protesters

Thai forces in Bangkok have fired live rounds after surrounding a fortified protesters' camp amid clashes that left at least five people dead.
Embassies were closed as protesters set fire to a police bus and shot fireworks at troops, who also responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
A BBC correspondent says the area is like a war zone with troops firing into a park as a helicopter circled above.
The demonstrators want the prime minister to resign and call elections.
Many of the so-called red-shirt protesters support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
Journalists shot
The Bangkok authorities have cut off water and electricity to the camp in a renewed effort by the Thai government to reclaim the city centre.

AT THE SCENE Rachel Harvey, BBC News, Bangkok Inside their fortified encampment the protesters are digging in and preparing for a siege. Outside, soldiers are battling to control the main roads as groups of angry demonstrators do everything in their power to stop their advance. A bus was set ablaze to block one main road. Elsewhere, protesters have piles of broken concrete, petrol bombs and fireworks at the ready. Troops have used live rounds, rubber-coated bullets and tear gas to try to disperse them. The British ambassador has urged both sides to step back from the brink and return to the negotiating table. But there seems little chance of that in the current volatile atmosphere. As night fell the sound of gunfire and explosions filled the air.

Violence escalated after a renegade general who was backing the protest was shot by an unknown gunman on Thursday, leaving him in a critical condition.
The British embassy was among several foreign missions closed on Friday.
At least four people were killed on Friday and a demonstrator was shot dead on Thursday night.
At least 45 people have been wounded, reports quoting hospital sources say.
Broadcaster France 24 said its Canadian-born TV reporter Nelson Rand had been hit in the leg, hand and abdomen. There were also reports that two Thai journalists had been shot.
Residents fled as gunfire rang out when thousands of soldiers moved in to seal off access to the protesters' camp. (from BBC)

Glad I am not out there...