BANGKOK, Thailand April 10, (AFP) - Scores of Thai anti-government protesters tried to force their way into an army base in Bangkok on Saturday but were repelled by water cannon, as their leaders vowed to carry on their fight for new elections.
Troops using tear gas and batons advanced on the “red shirts” from several directions near Phan Fah bridge, a Reuters photographer said, one of two main red shirt camps during the month-long protest and in the same area as the army base.
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| Anti-government “red shirt” protesters clash with soldiers using water canon at an army base near the parliament in Bangkok April 10. REUTERS |
It was not clear if the troops were intent on dispersing the red shirts or wanted to push those who had tried to get into the base back to the bridge.
Hundreds more red shirts, supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, gathered at a satellite earth station north of Bangkok after Thai authorities again blocked transmission of an opposition TV station they said was inciting unrest.
At another red shirt camp in an upmarket Bangkok shopping area by the Rachaprasong intersection, protest leader Nattawut Saikua said the fight for new elections would go on and there would be no let-up over next week's Thai New Year holiday “We want to condemn the government for blocking our television channel again,” he said from a makeshift stage.
“They've gone back on what they said to us. How can we let these kind of people lead our country? We have to fight on.” He warned the crowd to be ready for an attempt by the security forces to clear them on Saturday but there was no big military presence in the area.
The Thaicom Pcl satellite station about 60 km (35 miles) north of Bangkok was the scene of the most violent incident to date in the month-old protests, with police using water cannon and tear gas against thousands of protesters.
The red shirts stormed the site on Friday and forced the reversal of an earlier decision to censor the People Channel. |
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