Thai police use tear gas against anti-government protesters seeking to reopen TV station

Thai police use tear gas against protesters

BANGKOK — Anti-government protesters have stormed a telecom company compound where authorities had shut down their vital TV channel, as soldiers and riot police attempted to hold them back with tear gas and water cannons.

It was the first use of force by the government in monthlong protests aimed at ousting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and forcing new elections.

The “Red Shirt” protesters had threatened to charge into the building if a senior military commander didn’t come out to negotiate with them to restore the channel.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thousands of protesters in a noisy vehicle convoy headed for a showdown with the government Friday in a northern Bangkok suburb where they hoped to restore their vital TV channel after it was shut down by authorities.

The military warned that it may be forced to use rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons for the first time in the monthlong protests aimed at ousting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and forcing new elections. The Criminal Court said it had issued arrest warrants for three top protest leaders.

Offices where the People Channel, or PTV, had been based were ringed by barbed wire, with at least 500 soldiers and two water cannon trucks standing by. Protesters moving into the area jeered as helicopters made overhead passes.

The raucous demonstrations are part of a long-running battle between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 coup that removed him from power. They see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol for the elite who came to power illegitimately, through a parliamentary vote rather than the ballot box.

Leaders of the “Red Shirt” movement initially said they would march to undisclosed locations across Bangkok in their biggest rally yet, but switched plans Friday morning, with protest leader Nattawut Saikua telling followers, “We’re all moving in one direction.”

“We’re going to bring back our People Channel,” he said.

The government security agency estimated that 15,000 people were in the motorized caravan, but Army Spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd placed the number at about 3,000. Both figures are far below the biggest estimated turnout of about 100,000 during the early days of the protests last month.

Columns of protesters, riding motorcycles and pickup trucks blared horns and waved red flags as they moved out of their two main encampments in downtown Bangkok and headed north 28 miles (45 kilometers) to offices of TV carrier Thaicom Public Company in the suburb of Pathum Thani.

Sansern said that police and troops might have to gradually escalate their response to the protesters, including the use of tear gas and other non-lethal measures.

On Friday, the Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for three leaders for allegedly seizing the commercial district, the official Thai News Agency said. To date, a total of 27 warrants have been issued but none of the leaders are known to have been taken into custody.

The government has declared a state of emergency but so far has exerted no force to stop the escalating demonstrations. Instead it has censored the protesters’ communication links. On Thursday, it blocked the “People Channel” and dozens of Web sites that broadcast protesters’ fiery rallies and calls to the countryside for reinforcements.

Abhisit imposed the emergency order Wednesday and canceled a one-day trip to Hanoi for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders as he searched for ways to resolve the showdown without the use of force.

The prime minister went on national television late Thursday to explain the reasons behind the censorship and to announce that arrest warrants had been issued for protest leaders accused of storming Parliament on Wednesday.

“What the government wants is peace and happiness,” Abhisit said. Although the emergency order means the military now has greater power to restore order, both Abhisit and the army know a crackdown could result in bloodshed that would be political poison.

“It is the manipulation of information that is creating hate,” he said.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the media outlets blocked put out false information, including warnings that Abhisit authorized the use of force against protesters, and that “the prime minister has ordered people to be killed. That is not true.”

At least 36 Web sites connected to the opposition were banned, including content from a Twitter page and YouTube. Messages on the sites say they are blocked because of possible affects on “the security of the Kingdom, public order or good morals.”

PTV was set up and financed by Red Shirt sympathizers. A number of small community radio stations also are allied with the protesters, who also use mobile phones and social networking to communicate.

Most of Thailand’s television stations are owned by the government, but other media are privately owned and reflect a wide spectrum of political opinion.

Protesters have camped in Bangkok’s historic district since March 12 and occupied the capital’s main shopping boulevard since Saturday. A group of demonstrators briefly stormed Parliament on Wednesday, prompting the emergency decree that also allows authorities to impose curfews, ban public gatherings, censor media and detain suspects without charge for 30 days.

Abhisit said arrest warrants were issued late Thursday for seven protest leaders accused of leading the Parliament intrusion. Lawmakers were forced to flee on ladders over a back wall and senior officials were hastily evacuated by helicopter.

Associated Press writers Denis D. Gray, Jocelyn Gecker and Grant Peck contributed to this report.