BANGKOK - THAI police on Wednesday identified the man who died in a car bombing during chaotic anti-government protests as a former senior policeman and demonstration organiser.

Metha Chartmontri, 37, quit his police career in 2005 to work for the anti-government group the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in the north of Thailand, said authorities.

'He was a lieutenant colonel...who resigned and began working with the People's Alliance for Democracy as coordinator from Burirum province,' Major General Amnuay Nimmano, deputy commander of Bangkok police, told reporters.

Metha was killed Tuesday when a car burst into flames close to Thailand's parliament building, where PAD members clashed with police.

One female protester was killed during clashes after suffering internal injuries, a doctor from a Bangkok hospital said.

Eight police officers were shot or stabbed in the unrest, police said, which capped months of demonstrations aimed at removing Thailand's elected government because of its ties to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. -- AFP