Latest clashes in Bangkok leave 4 dead, dozens hurt

[BANGKOK] Gun battles erupted between Thai police and anti-government protesters in Bangkok yesterday, killing four people and wounding dozens as authorities made their most determined effort yet to clear demonstrators from the streets.

In a day of tangled developments in Thailand's long-running political crisis, the country's anti-corruption body announced it was filing charges against caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra relating to a rice subsidy scheme that has fuelled unprecedented opposition to her government. If found guilty, she could be removed from office.

The troubled rice scheme, already near collapse, suffered another blow yesterday when the Government Savings Bank (GSB) said it was scrapping a loan to a state farm bank that could have been used to prop the scheme up, in the face of a revolt by depositors.