BANGKOK - Whenever he hears the sound of motorcycles revving outside his apartment in the evening, Mr Pramual Samdeang shuts the windows, while his wife grabs towels to wrap around their eyes should tear gas drift into their home near the Din Daeng intersection.

Over the past few weeks, the intersection has turned into a battleground almost nightly between riot police and protesters. Residents like Mr Pramual, 69, and his wife have had to endure, sometimes for hours, the exchanges of rubber bullets, tear gas, home-made bombs and firecrackers.