Security forces fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who climbed over rolls of barbed wire and forced open the gate of the compound, holding it for about three hours in defiance of an emergency decree on the 27th day of anti-government street protests seeking new elections.
Most of the soldiers pulled back from the Thaicom Pcl satellite station about 35 miles north of Bangkok, leaving the grounds in control of the “red shirt” protesters, supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
Authorities entered the station a day earlier and seized equipment that took their People Channel channel off air, saying it was inciting violence. Other channels were not affected.
Broadcasts resumed after talks between police and protest leaders, prompting the crowd to disperse. However, it was not immediately clear how long the broadcasts would continue.
“We have won a small victory, getting the protest broadcast again. But we are still fighting the big battle against the Government, propped by the elite,” said Weng Tojirakan, a protest leader.
He said the red shirts had no immediate plan to march anywhere else, adding: “We will have to meet and discuss how to step up the fight.”
The protesters, who briefly besieged parliament on Wednesday, seized guns, batons, shields, bullets and tear gas cannon from police and soldiers and displayed them at the station. A photographer earlier saw a policeman
hitting a protester with the end of a rifle.
Fourteen protesters, three police and a soldier were wounded, a medical centre said. One red shirt suffered a gunshot wound, most likely from a rubber bullet. Others had minor scrapes.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said he will not order a crackdown on the mostly rural and working-class protesters who have also ignored orders to leave Bangkok’s main shopping district since last Saturday.
Mr Abhisit faces pressure to either compromise and call an election he could easily lose, or launch a crackdown that could stir up even more trouble.
Most analysts doubt the authorities will use force to remove protesters from the shopping area – a politically risky decision for Mr Abhisit as his 16-month-old coalition Government struggles to build support outside Bangkok.
“A crackdown is very unlikely in the next few days unless some group does something crazy, like a serious bomb attack or an attempted attack on important figures,” said a senior military source.–Reuters
