Bangkok: 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.
Troops guarded offices where the People Channel had been based, and the military warned that for the first time in the monthlong anti-government protests, it may be forced to use rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons.
The Criminal Court said it had issued arrest warrants for three top protest leaders.
Defiant leaders of the "Red Shirt" movement initially said they would march to undisclosed locations across Bangkok, pledging the biggest rally yet in their drive to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and force new elections.
Then they 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."
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.
Columns of protesters, riding motorcycles and pickup trucks blared horns and waved red flags as they moved out of their two main encampments in Bangkok's key commercial district and an area in the historic heart of the capital.
They headed north toward the suburb of Pathum Thani, about 28 miles north of downtown Bangkok to the offices of Thaicom Public Company, which had been the carrier for the People Channel.
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' communcation links.
