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BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat rejected calls Wednesday to dissolve parliament, despite the country's army chief suggested that he do so amid growing violence.

Protesters gather outside government offices at Bangkok's older Don Muang Airport.

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"This government has legitimacy," Somchai said, speaking in the northern city Chiang Mai, which itself has reportedly seen disturbances between thousands of pro- and anti-government supporters . "The administration needs to protect Thai democracy and the Thai people, which is most important," he added.

Anupong Paochinda, the head of Thailand's military made his call after anti-government protests continued to force the closure of Bangkok's international airport.

Speaking after a meeting with Thai military, police, business and academic leaders Wednesday, Paochinda reiterated that the military would not launch a coup to restore order.

Flights into the country were thrown into chaos early Wednesday after explosions at two Bangkok airports wounded four people and triggered the closure of its main international gateway -- a major hub in the region for travelers. Watch background to Thailand turmoil »

The authorities have yet to confirm whether the explosions were caused by a bomb attack.

Paochinda, an influential military commander, called on the government to "give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election."

He added: "Since the government has legitimacy to deal with the problem but they can't, they should return it -- power to the people."

Wednesday's first blast at the city's Suvarnabhumi International Airport occurred at 5 a.m. (2200 Tuesday GMT), an airport official said. One person was wounded.

The second blast occurred at 6:40 a.m. (2340 Tuesday GMT) at the Don Muang International Airport, wounding three people, police said.

The blasts come a day after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed the airports to protest the return of Wongsawat from an economic summit in Peru. See the Bangkok protests in pictures »

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is leading the protests, said it will not end its occupation of the airports until Somchai resigns. They accuse his government of being a front for ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who they want to stand trial on corruption charges.

Thaksin, ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006, returned when the People Power Party won elections in December 2007, only to leave again in August.

ln October Thailand's Supreme Court ruled that Thaksin, now in Dubai, had abused his powers while in office and sentenced him to two years in prison.

In Chiang Mai late Wednesday protesters wearing yellow shirts pulled a 60-year-old man from his car and shot and killed him, Reuters journalist John Sanlin told CNN. Anti-government protesters typically wear yellow shirts, he said.

Somchai's plane was unable to land in Bangkok from Peru, and his plane was instead diverted to a military airport in northern Thailand. A spokesman for Somchai said the prime minister will call a meeting before issuing any formal response to head of the military's proposal to dissolve parliament.

Continued protests caused authorities to cancel all incoming and outgoing flights there, an assistant to airport director Serirat Prasutanond told CNN. Watch more about the airport chaos »

Thousands of travelers were already facing the prospect of being stranded at an airport which handles 60,000 incoming passengers daily.

"I think we're going to be giving up on waiting for our flight at this point," Keri Gannon, in Thailand on her honeymoon, told CNN, after waiting for about 17 hours. She did not specify what she intended to do. Watch tourists stranded at airport »

Gannon, who is from California, said it was difficult to obtain any information on the situation. "There is no one here at the airport," she said, referring to airline and airport officials. "There were some representatives earlier in the day, but they've been gone for hours.

"The currency exchange has been closed all day and most of the places don't accept credit cards; we didn't come here with much because we expected to leave, so we haven't had enough money to buy food, and we can't exchange the cash we do have. And then they closed, actually, all the restaurants, so there's no way to buy food at this point."

Gannon said some protesters occasionally walked around and handed out food to stranded passengers. "But some of us are kind of angry -- don't necessarily want to take it -- but at this point there's no way to get any food or water unless you take donations from either police or protesters." Watch why protesters are angry »

It was not clear when flights would resume. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok advised Americans to "stay away from the airport given the potential for violence and civil disobedience."

On Tuesday thousands of anti-government PAD protesters partially shut down Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country's main airport, an airport spokesman said. Watch fists fly in the terminal »

Pro- and anti-government protesters also exchanged gunfire, a Thai police official said. Protesters with golf clubs and long wooden sticks also clashed with airport taxi drivers, with each side throwing things at the other.

The clash started when the PAD was mobilizing supporters near the Don Muang airport, which the government is using as its temporary office. iReport.com: Are you there? Send pics, video

The PAD ran into a pro-government group, resulting in an exchange of abusive words, and the pro-government group threw rocks into the PAD crowd prompting an exchange of gunfire, the police official said.

On Monday PAD supporters -- who want Shinawatra to face trial on corruption charges -- surrounded the parliament building, forcing lawmakers to postpone their session.

CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

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