Thailand's conflict has spread to the rural northeast, where four provincial halls have been torched and some 13,000 anti-government protesters have rallied. <br/>The protesters known as Red Shirts campaigners in the region are defying a state of emergency that has been declared in 23 provinces as well as the capital Bangkok. Manit Wattansen, permanent secretary at the interior ministry of Thailand said that fire gutted four provincial halls almost simultaneously on Wednesday afternoon including in Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Mukdahan and Ubon Ratchthani.<br/> The halls, which were seriously damaged in the attacks, house the offices of the provincial governors as well as agencies like taxation and education. Manit said, referring to northern towns popular with tourists that authorities can control the situation to some extent, but there are still protests in Lampang and Chiang Mai. <br/> The provinces are mostly in the protesters' heartland in the north and northeast of the kingdom, which has a total of 76 provinces. <br/>