DHAKA: At least one person killed and three injured overnight as a gunman opened fire at a group of protesters near Chamai bridge in Bangkok.

Earlier on Friday, Thailand`s army chief urged both sides in the country`s bitter political dispute to show restraint, but did not explicitly rule out the possibility of a coup, reports Al-Jazeera.

Thailand has been wracked by two months of political tensions and occasionally violent street protests pitting the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra against protesters seeking to oust her.

The army has staged 11 successful coups in the country`s history, so its intentions are being watched carefully.

"That door is neither open nor closed," the army chief, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, said on Friday in response to questions from reporters as to whether military intervention was likely.

"It will be determined by the situation."

Prayuth also reiterated a request that people stop asking the army to take sides in the dispute.

"Please don`t bring the army into the centre of this conflict," he said.

The protesters have been eager for the army to intervene in the crisis.

Late last month, they forced their way onto the grounds of army headquarters to deliver a letter asking the military to support their campaign to topple Yingluck.

The protesters stopped short of calling for a coup, but urged military leaders to "take a stand" in the political crisis. Prayuth responded by insisting that the army would not take sides.

BDST: 1024 HRS, DEC 28, 2013