Red-shirted revolutionaries take control of Thailand TV station

Protesters today stormed a TV station closed by the Thai government as soldiers and riot police tried to hold them back with tear gas and water cannon.

Throwing rocks, the "Red Shirts" breached the barbed-wire compound housing their People Channel in minutes. Security forces retreated as the protesters swarmed in.

Some police threw down their shields and riot gear and shook hands with the protesters. The Red Shirts offered them water.

The Bangkok demonstrations are part of a long-running battle between the supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the ruling elite they say orchestrated a military coup in 2006 that overthrew him.

They claim prime minister Abhisit Vejjajva took office illegally in 2008 with the help of military pressure on parliament.

Leaders of the Red Shirts first said they would march to different locations across Bangkok but switched plans, with protest leader Nattawut Saikua telling followers: "We're all moving in one direction. We're going to bring back our People Channel."

Thousands of protesters on motorcycles and in pickup trucks waved red flags - seen above riding past the Victory Monument in Pathum Thani, north of the capital - as they moved out of their two camps in central Bangkok and headed north to the TV station's offices.

The government has declared a state of emergency but has backed away from using heavy-handed tactics to stop the demonstrations. Instead, it has tried to block the mobile phones and social network sites used by the Red Shirts.