Thousands of royalist protesters stormed Thai state broadcaster NBT on Tuesday, halting programming, as a part of demonstrations to try to overthrow the elected coalition government.
NBT journalists abandoned their studio in favour of a room at the Bangkok Traffic Police headquarters, from where they resumed transmission after an hour of disruption.
”We can’t broadcast from the Vibhavadi headquarters as there are 5 000 protesters on the premises,” NBT chief Suriyong Hoonthasarn told Reuters.
The stock market fell 2% at the opening bell amid fears of clashes between demonstrators and police, although it was down 1,55% by 4am GMT, broadly in line with other bourses in the region.
The Bangkok share market has shed nearly 23% since the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a motley group of monarchist businessmen and academics, launched its campaign to unseat the government on May 25.
Earlier, police arrested 80 people armed with pistols, golf clubs and knives after they burst into NBT studios as part of a prelude to wider protests organised by PAD. When thousands of PAD supporters massed, police stood aside.
”They shouted ‘Get out, get out’ at us repeatedly. All 150 of us were rounded up for a short while before police arrived and talked them down to the ground floor,” newscaster Soifah Osukonthip said on air.
Station chief Suriyong said the demonstrators were declaring it a ”people’s revolution day”. — Reuters