By DPA,
Bangkok : Thousands of anti-government demonstrators Friday stormed the compound of a satellite station after its main television channel was blocked from broadcasting under an emergency law.
Soldiers guarding the compound at first fired tear gas at the protesters, who kicked the canisters away and entered the station grounds without a clash but did not enter the building.
In open defiance of an emergency decree, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), whose supporters are known as the Red Shirts for the colour of their protest clothing, led a convoy of hundreds of motorcycles and pickups on the Thaicom satellite station in Pathum Thani, about 30 km north of the heart of Bangkok.
The government Thursday shut down the pro-UDD People Channel (PTV), broadcast from Thaicom satellite, as the first step in its enforcement of the state of emergency decreed Wednesday night.
The decree empowers the government to ban gatherings of more than five people and shut down media deemed a threat to security as well as allows soldiers to carry weapons and enjoy immunity for their actions.
The protest caravan to the Thaicom station was in open defiance of the decree, which covers Bangkok and six surrounding provinces, including Pathum Thani.
On Friday, the Bangkok Criminal Court also issued arrest warrants for 17 of the UDD’s core leaders.
Under the emergency decree, troops have been armed with fire hoses, batons, shields, tear gas, pepper spray and rifles with rubber bullets.
The UDD has been staging daily protests in the capital since March 12, calling on Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and call new elections.
After failing to force a swift dissolution, the UDD Saturday shifted the centre of their rally from the old section of Bangkok to the capital’s upmarket department store hub on Ratchaprasong Road.
Capturing the district has prompted the government to take action against the protests, which have already cost Thailand an estimated $400 million in lost retail and hotel business.
The UDD’s headline-grabbing tactics of last month included pouring litres of human blood on the gates of Government House and launching protest caravans through Bangkok’s already traffic-bound streets, but they did not persuade the government to meet the UDD’s demands or crack down.
On Wednesday, more than 1,000 red shirts stormed parliament, forcing legislators to flee and prompting Abhisit to declare the state of emergency.
The government has vowed to implement the decree step by step, starting Thursday with the closure of several red-shirt media outlets, including PTV, the main satellite TV station supportive of the UDD, and more than 30 pro-protest websites.
Abhisit said the closure of PTV was necessary because the station was broadcasting false information by claiming the government was preparing to wage a “class war” on the Thai people.
The UDD has called on its provincial followers to come to Bangkok to join its ranks or lay siege to city halls upcountry.
Having put the emergency decree into force, the government is now under an obligation to act.
According to government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn, authorities hope to clear the protesters out of the Ratchaprasong area within a few days.
“I would like to stress that using force is not the main objective of the government,” Abhisit said in televised broadcast Thursday night. “The main goal is to return areas to the public.”
Political analysts questioned whether Abhisit and the army would be willing to use the force necessary to quell the red shirt movement, which shows no signs of abating.
In Thailand, which has witnessed 18 military coups since 1932, there is always a possibility of the army taking over to restore stability.
“If the impasse is prolonged from hours into a few days, pressure will build for an army solution,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political scientist who is currently a visiting scholar at Stanford University in California.
“A coup could be on the cards, but this is the army-backed establishment’s least-preferred outcome. Abhisit is still their best bet.”
The military and Abhisit’s government are seen as close allies.