One of the lingering “commanders” of the pro-Democracy protesters vowed that the violence would continue, even as the Thai military is said to have received “shoot on site” orders for anyone still participating in the protest.

The dispersal of much of the main camp of the protesters appears to have brought relative calm to the capital, but simply spilled the protests out into the countryside, where much of their support remains, and analysts are calling this the most serious wave of political violence in Thailand’s long history.

The military seems to be trying to extend its control over the protesters across the nation now, with mandatory curfews in effect across 24 of the nation’s 75 provinces. With the military calling the protesters “terrorists” and the protesters digging in their heels in the face of attacks, it seems the violence is far from over.

“I apologize to you all, but I don’t want any more losses,” Jatuporn Prompan, one of the leaders, told the crowd before he was led away by police. The Thai Army has temporarily halted its attacks, which killed several dozen protesters and bystanders, to allow the thousands still trapped in the area to flee.

Though other leaders also announced they were quitting the current protest in the face of what could have been a massacre, they urged the protesters not to give up on the fight for political change.

But many of the protesters appear not to have been particularly keen on having a multi-month protest end simply because the Abhisit government ordered in troops, and reports are that fires have been set across the city, including at the stock exchange, at a TV station, and at one of the largest shopping malls in the nation.

Thailand’s Army called the protesters “terrorists” and promised to continue operations against them, even as most of them seem to be heading home in defeat. The resentment will likely have far reaching ramifications in a nation increasingly polarized between urban and rural populations.

The Red Shirt protesters were a pro-democracy group that were calling for the ouster of the Abhisit government, which was never elected but was rather the result of a deal made in the wake of a previous protest which ousted the Somchai government in 2008, and sought fresh elections.

Troops in armored personnel carriers stormed into the area with machine guns, and helicopters loomed overhead. Exactly how many of the once 10,000 strong protesters remained in the area for the assault was unclear, but they are all targets at this point.

Prime Minister Abhisit has demanded that the protesters, mostly the rural poor who oppose his government, return to their homes, and officials in his government have referred to members of the protest as “terrorists” over the past few days. Dozens of protesters have been killed in the recent crackdown.

Abhisit came to power in 2008, after mostly urban protesters ousted the Somchai government. The Red Shirt protesters generally look favorable on Somchai, and also former Prime Minister Thaksin. The lesson Abhisit seems to have learned from the 2008 protests was to crush them before they get out of hand, and it seems that is what is about to happen.

The violence has continues to worsen since Thursday’s attempted assassination of the security chief of the Red Shirt protesters, as the government has angrily rejected calls for a ceasefire and talks. With the situation increasingly unstable, the protesters are now raising the prospect that the situation could become a full-on civil war.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn insisted that the ceasefire was unwelcome and unnecessary, and insisted that everyone who had been shot by the Thai military during the protests was a “terrorist.”

Yet at least three journalists were among those reported killed in the clashes, and much of Central Bangkok is now considered a “live fire zone” for the military.

Prime Minister Abhisit, the target of much of the protesters’ anger, vowed that the crackdown would continue until all the protests were halted, saying that it was too late for the military to back off.

But while it seems that the military will put down the 10,000 strong Red Shirts, even if it turns the capital city into a warzone, the long term damage appears to have already been done. Thailand’s rural population has sided firmly against Abhisit, and will likely remain so no matter how bad the crackdown gets.

The protests, which have been going on since March, took on a far more serious tone Thursday, when the general responsible for their security was shot in the head by a sniper during an interview.

As the protesters have gotten bolder, the Thai Army has escalated the use of force against them, and a plea for a ceasefire with the Abhisit government was rejected. Since Thursday night at least 24 people have been killed and 211 wounded.

This appears to be merely the tip of the iceberg, however, as Prime Minister Abhisit promised to violently crush the protest in its entirety. Protesters are now being shot with increasing regularity by snipers and the government seems willing to go to any length to disperse the estimated 10,000 protesters.

Just the latest in a long string of protests in Thailand, the so-called “red shirts” promise to see the Abhisit government ousted. Absihit himself came to power in 2008 as the result of another series of protests against the Somchai government.

The rising tensions resulting from yesterday’s attempted assassination of the Red Shirt protesters’ security chief, General Khattiya Sawatdiphol, appears to have boiled over as troops opened fire on the demonstrators in the capital city of Bangkok.

At least 24 people have been killed in fighting across the city, including three journalists, and some 211 others have been wounded in the fighting that broke out late last night and has continued throughout the day.

As the violence has escalated, several of the protest leaders are said to have resigned, and those that are left are pleading for a ceasefire as the military escalates its use of firepower against the surrounded protesters.

Officials for Thailand’s government predicted that the military would put an end to the protests “very soon” and suggested normalcy could return to the capital in a matter of days. Prime Minister Abhisit added that the only way the loss of life would end was for the protesters to abandon the protest.

This normalcy might be short-lived, however. The current Abhisit government came to power in 2008 with their own similar protests, which ended with the ouster of the Somchai government. These protesters are largely supporters of Somchai, and of Thaksin Shinawatra. Even if the military manages to crush the protests for now the tensions between the urban supporters of Abhisit and the rural suppoters of Thaksin will linger, and more confrontations are virtually inevitable.

Gen. Sawatdiphol was giving an interview to the New York Times at the time, and was shot by an apparent sniper. He is said to be on life support in the hospital.

It is unclear who was responsible for the attack, but it sparked massive clashes between the protesters and the Thai military, and the deployment of armored vehicles to surround the protesters points to growing concerns that the military may attempt to violently put an end to the demonstrations.

These protests are just the latest in a string of protests that underscore the growing divisions in Thai society. In 2008 protests managed to oust the Somchai government, which was replaced by the current Abhisit government. The Red Shirt protesters are supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, and are generally in favor of Somchai as well.

The ruling spells the end of not just the end of Thailand’s current government, but likely also the political career of Minister Somchai, who is now banned from politics for the next five years over the ruling. The announcement was met by raucous cheers from the protesters, and passenger flights from Suvarnabhumi international airport are expected to resume tomorrow.

The move spells an end, at least in the near term, to several months of protests against the Somchai government. The post-coup government was seen by the protesters as a continuation of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (Somchai’s brother in law). Both governments were seen as wildly corrupt in the city, but were popular among the rural population of Thailand. Whether the next Thai government will be any more palatable to the protesters than the previous ones remains to be seen.

The protesters surrounded parliament earlier today, trapping hundreds of parliamentarians inside for more than five hours. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat reportedly had to climb over a fence behind the building to escape after his early morning address. The other members fled after police fired tear gas canisters into the throng of protesters, whose number has been reported as somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000.

In the ensuing melee, one protester was killed and at least 350 others were injured. The protesters overturned police vehicles and reportedly injured eight police. Another person was killed in a suspected car bombing shortly afterward, though it is as yet unclear if this was directly related to the clashes.

The protests have been going on for months, and stem from accusations against the recently elected government of corruption and plotting against the nation’s popular monarchy. The protests gained considerable momentum when police arrested one of the leaders of the protest, retired General Chamlong Srimuang, on Sunday afternoon. Former prime minister Anand Panyarachun compared the arrest to “starting a fire,” and said he was unsure “where it is going to lead.”