Thailand's former Senate speaker Suchon Chaleekrua Monday led a group of former senators to file a petition, seeking Thai king's intervention to end the current political violence, according to a report by the website of local newspaper The Nation.

He filed the petition to Intharachan Buraphan, deputy secretary-general of the Royal Household Bureau.

Over 70 people had been wounded when hundreds of army soldiers and anti-government protesters clashed in Bangkok early Monday morning 14 hours after Thai PM declared a state of emergency in the capital city.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared on Sunday afternoon a state of emergency in Bangkok and some districts of five provinces nearby, citing the escalating violence of red-shirted protesters.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2009)