Kiwis in Bangkok warned to steer clear of protests

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has updated its travel advisory for Thailand in the wake of mounting political protests that have so far seen 18 people killed and hundreds injured.

New Zealanders in Bangkok were advised to avoid all protests and rallies and any areas of military or security force activity.

Travellers should pay close attention to public sources of information concerning events in Bangkok and should be aware of their surroundings at all times, the ministry's advisory said.

Further violent clashes between protesters and security forces were possible, it added.

The Thai Government has invoked provisions of an emergency decree applying in Bangkok and surrounding provinces which give the security forces additional powers of arrest and detention.

The new measures may also involve travel restrictions, traffic checkpoints and vehicle and/or people searches.

There have been a number of grenade attacks and small explosions in Bangkok.

The ministry said further attacks could not be ruled out, including against buildings associated with the Thai Government.

New Zealanders travelling or living in Thailand were advised to register their details with the ministry or, if already registered, update their details.

Five soldiers and 13 civilians, including a Japanese cameraman for the Thomson Reuters news agency, were killed on Saturday, according to the Thai Government's Erawan emergency centre.

The violence erupted after security forces tried to push out the Red Shirt demonstrators who have camped in parts of the capital for a month and staged disruptive protests demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and call new elections.

The demonstrations were part of a long-running battle between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 military coup that removed him from power amid corruption allegations.

The protesters, called Red Shirts for their garb, see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of an elite impervious to the plight of Thailand's poor and claim he took office illegitimately in December 2008 after the military pressured Parliament to vote for him.