BANGKOK -- Protesters idenitifed with Thailand's People's Alliance
for Democracy - an anti-government movement - broke through a
police-fortified iron gate to enter the compound of Thailand's
state-run National Broadcasting Television this morning, Tuesday,
26 August 2008.

Electricity was cut at the station and, at 8:30 a.m., NBT officials
had been forced to suspend their operations pending efforts by
station managers and the police to restore order to the situation.
It is not yet certain who cut off the electricity at the station,
but NBT officials said it was definitely not on their orders.

Media reports say at least 2,000 protesters were involved in the
storming of the station, which the PAD criticizes as a government
propaganda machine. NBT video showed a mob rocking NBT's iron gates
back and forth until it collapsed. Dozens of police on the other
side of the gate had failed to keep the gate up and closed.

Dozens of masked protesters then broke down a glass entrance and
gained entry into the main lobby and building of the NBT.
Progamming has been suspended and most of NBT's staff have left the
premises. As of 10 a.m., NBT was broadcasting from an older station
it owns in downtown Bangkok, covering its own unfolding crisis.

Bangkok's English-language daily, "The Nation", said the PAD
protesters started gathering in front the NBT compound along
Bangkok's Vibhavadi Road between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.

As of 10 a.m., police were still trying to restore order, but the
situation remains tense in and around the NBT compound. Some
arrests have apparently been made, with The Nation reporting that
police are interrogating some people found with weapons such as
long knives and at least one handgun.

The PAD has been waging weekly protests in Bangkok since May 2008,
aiming for nothing less than the ouster of the government led by
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The PAD was the main driving force
behind the political demonstrations against the government of
former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was eventually ousted
in a military coup two years ago. After the military allowed for a
new Thai constitution and for new elections, Samak emerged as
Thailand's new elected Prime Minister, but PAD sees him as nothing
more than a proxy for Thaksin, hence the continuing calls for his
ouster.

Agence France Presse quotes PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul as
calling on more people to join the demonstrators that now hold the
NBT hostage. With overwhelmed police also moving to add to their
numbers to somehow restore order at the station, the situation
looks to remain volatile for the time being.