Thai protesters force PM to flee meeting after three killed in Bangkok

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) – Protesters seeking to oust Thailand's government broke into the grounds of an air force compound on Thursday where the acting prime minister was meeting the Election Commission to fix a date for new polls, forcing him to flee. The disruption of acting Prime Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan's efforts to organize an election came hours after gunmen attacked anti-government protesters, killing three. The turmoil comes as the government loyal to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra squares off with opponents backed by the royalist establishment over who should be prime minister, in the latest phase of nearly a decade of rivalry. Hundreds of protesters converged outside an air force school in north Bangkok after word spread that Niwatthamrong was meeting commission officials there.