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Protesters commandeering Thailand's main airport forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and stranded thousands of travelers Wednesday in a major escalation of their 4-month-old campaign to oust the prime minister.

BANGKOK, Nov. 27 -- The government of Thailand has declared a state of emergency in the areas immediately surrounding two key airports in Bangkok, clearing the way for security forces to move in and eject thousands of anti-government protesters who took over the facilities earlier this week.

The People's Alliance for Democracy swarmed Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country's main international gateway on Tuesday night, forcing a shutdown that stranded thousands of passengers. Late Wednesday or early Thursday, demonstrators took over Don Muang Airport, which handles a number of domestic routes, leaving the country's biggest city without a functioning civilian air gateway.

The closure of the airports is part of PAD's campaign to bring down the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

Somchai announced the move towards the limited state of emergency after a cabinet meeting that was held in the northern town of Chiang Mai to avoid being disrupted by their opposition.

In a televised address Thursday, the prime minister called the siege of the airports "very harmful to the country."

Somchai said police and some military units would try to end the blockades, but opposition leaders said they would not back down.

"We will not leave. We will use human shields against the police if they try to disperse us," PAD leader Suriyasai Katasila told Reuters news service.

Some office employees left work early in Bangkok, Reuters reported, and the United Nations advised its staff to go home and remain indoors. Throughout the capital rumors swirled that a military coup could be imminent.

Bangkok is watching nervously, with the latest speculation flying from resident to resident via mobile telephone text message.

"The government is in a corner," said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, and a specialist on security issues. "If the police do a clean job, the military might not have to step in, but if there is bloodshed, I'm quite certain they will step in."

On Thursday afternoon, Somchai made a specific request for the military to stay in barracks. To quash rumors that the Army was making a bid to take over, the military released a statement explaining that Army vehicles that were seen on the roads on the edge of the city were merely returning from a training exercise.

On Wednesday, General Anupong Paojinda, the head of the army, called on the government to resign to pave the way for elections and for PAD to vacate the buildings it had captured.

Analysts said the clear implication was that Anupong was not willing to use his forces against the protesters. When both sides rejected his suggestions, it heightened the chances for a direct clash between PAD and the government, a clash that until now the government has worked hard to avoid.

There is a strong stain of violence running through Thailand's political history. There have been 18 military coup attempts -- 11 of them successful -- since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.

A riot police officer fires a tear gas shell at anti-government protesters in front of parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. Police fired tear gas Tuesday at several thousand demonstrators attempting to block access by lawmakers to the Parliament building in the Thai capital. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn) (Wason Wanichakorn - AP)

BANGKOK, Oct. 7-- Thousands of demonstrators massed outside the Thai parliament building to derail its opening session Tuesday morning, and protesters said four people were severely injured when police fired tear gas canisters in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

At least two people lost parts of their legs, and two lost parts of their arms when they were hit by tear gas canisters or stun grenades, the protesters said. Another 47 people suffered lesser injuries. Police said two of their officers were injured when a protester fired a handgun at police lines.

The day-long confrontation undid weeks of quiet attempts at rapprochement by Somchai's government and gave new life to fears that the differences that have paralyzed Thai politics for much of the past two years may be beyond reconciliation.

The trouble started Monday night when some 8,000 protesters gathered outside parliament, vowing to prevent the lawmakers' from convening Tuesday morning. Police moved in shortly after dawn with a volley of tear gas canisters and stun grenades, sending the crowd running.

"They fired without warning," said Somran Rodpetch, one of the leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy, which is organizing the protests.

Despite the police action, hundreds of protesters remained outside parliament. They trapped the members of parliament who were able to get into the building and forced Somchai to use a ladder to escape over a fence into a neighboring royal palace. It was late afternoon by the time police could clear a path for other lawmakers to leave.

Violence erupted again just after nightfall, when demonstrators attempted to break through police lines. The police, who do not carry firearms, responded with multiple rounds of tear gas, pushing the crowds back. It was not clear if anyone was injured. By Tuesday night, soldiers were assisting police in trying to restore order; the military said their troops also would not be armed.

The People's Alliance for Democracy has vowed to bring down the government that was elected last December but has been condemned by protesters as a corrupt legacy of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was removed by a military coup in 2006 after months of protests by the alliance.

Somchai, the current prime minister, is Thaksin's brother-in-law. Somchai has tried to reach out to the alliance, the most visible manifestation of a deep and widening gulf in Thai politics.

"We need to revive the economy," Somchai told parliament Tuesday. "It's time to reunite and help each other."

On one side of the divide is the government, elected to a convincing majority late last year with the support of the rural poor who, until Thaksin came along, were largely ignored by the political elite. Thaksin wooed the poor with plans for health care, education and loans for village improvement, and in the process welded together a political machine that has so far proved unstoppable.

The opposition is mostly urban and middle class. Many of Tuesday's protesters sported expensive digital cameras; their weapon of choice seemed to be golf clubs.

One of the most damaging accusations against Thaksin was that he wanted to abolish Thailand's revered monarchy, one of the country's few unquestioned institutions. Alliance supporters wear yellow shirts as a mark of their respect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej; a Bangkok hospital said that Bhumibol's wife, Queen Sirikit, has donated 100,000 baht to help those injured in the demonstrations.

They accuse Thaksin and his successors of fostering corruption and vote buying, and wanting to overthrow the king. have shown little appetite for compromise or negotiation.

"I'll be here until the Somchai government quits," said Suwan Kansanoh, a retired government officer who had joined the demonstration with his wife and a neighbor.

Somchai's efforts at reconciliation received an additional blow on Tuesday with the resignation of one of his deputies, Chavalit Yongchaiyuth, who had been given the task of negotiating with the alliance.

While the alliance shook Thailand's political establishment to its foundations six weeks ago when it stormed and occupied the prime minister's offices, it has since lost political momentum. Somchai moved his operations to a converted terminal building at Bangkok's old international airport, sidestepping further confrontation. And the alliance's proposals for political reform have garnered little public support; critics have called them both reactionary and ineffective.