PROTESTS IN BANGKOK

No more than five or six miles from where I am sitting some 30,000 anti-government PAD (Peoples Alliance for Democracy) supporters have taken control of one government-run television station, are threatening to take control of Channel 3, and have stormed the gates of Bangkok's Metropolitan Police. Elsewhere more PAD supporters have reportedly blocked roads leading into Bangkok from the north, north east and south.
It's a surreal feeling, and is certainly a day where Internet news sites and blogs come in useful - especially The Nation and Bangkok Pundit which are updating almost constantly.

UPDATE: 2PM
Web updates from The Nation appears to have dried up although there's a good article on Bloomberg which looks at things, in part, from the business perspective.
The reports quotes Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, as saying: "The protests may backfire as they disrupt traffic and businesses. This is all provocation today from the People's Alliance to generate an overreaction from the government. If Samak (the Prime Minister) doesn't react hastily and holds his ground, the protesters may become frustrated. Then we might see the worst case scenario where the protesters become uncontrollable."
That's my worry. The Stock Exchange is down more than 2½ per cent today (and almost 25 per cent since the anti-government protests started in May). The damage being done to Thailand's image overseas isn't being truly felt as of yet but will surely last far longer than any protests.

UPDATE: 3.10PM
Check out the live-blogging at Absolutely Bangkok for more regular updates.
Personally I was shocked that the PAD were allowed to storm Government House with apparent ease, although what do I know?
There's a thunderstorm rumbling around central Bangkok now so that might cool things. Samak is/was due to make a statement around 3pm; that will be interesting and probably determine what happens for the rest of the day.

UPDATE: 3.55PM
Samak spoke and is standing firm, although is fast losing his patience. Interestingly after he spoke the Stock Exchange recovered slightly, although is still down almost two per cent on the day. His address brought our office to a standstill. I believe he said something like 'you're either with us or against us'.
I think most government offices are now closed and some private companies have also allowed their staff to leave early. Schools, including two close to my office which is a fair distance from any of the conflict, also finished early.
It's 2½ hours until my taxi ride home and it's either going to be heavenly or hellish. I actually think it won't be too bad because the roads might be pretty clear and I'll not be going too close to any of the trouble spots. The interesting thing now is the response from the PAD and what will happen with the pro-government PPP (People Power Party) which had earlier threatened to hold its own rally if the PAD did not disperse by 6pm.

ADD: The BBC is reporting "Protesters flood Bangkok streets" on its website. Come on. I'm in central Bangkok and I've not seen a single protester on the streets. Sure, things are certainly happening in other parts of the city but this certainly isn't widespread protests.

UPDATE: 5.30PM
The power of The Bangkok Bugle ! The BBC story headline has now been changed to read "Thai leaders face huge protests" which is certainly a more accurate headline
It's eerily quiet for this time of day outside my office, probably because a lot of the schools and office workers that would normally be leaving now have already left. The current advice from the British Foreign Office is: "You should exercise caution and avoid any demonstrations or large gatherings of people. You should also keep yourself informed of developments, including by regularly checking this advice." For another take on what's happening read Thai Crisis.
The PAD has been given a 6pm deadline by the Royal Thai Police to leave Government House. Elsewhere The Nation is reporting the PAD has left the NBT television station "... after it failed to block NBT from airing its programmes from somewhere else ... and failed to hack through security system of the station to relay signal from ASTV as initially planned." ASTV is a station owned and operated by one of the leaders of the PAD. PAD supporters were reported to have moved to Government House at 5pm.

UPDATE: 8.30PM
Well, the journey home was nothing special with traffic in all the usual places. If anything it took a bit longer than normal but there was no sign of anything remotely unusual.
Just after 6pm Prime Minister Samak was addressing foreign media on about the situation in English. That's the first time in his seven month reign that I've heard him speaking in English and I guess it shows the importance he's placing on what is happening in terms of Thailand's image overseas.
Sadly for Thailand the 8pm headline on BBC World News was "Chaos on the streets of Bangkok" and the fact that there are demonstrations in isolated parts of the capital just doesn't grab attention even though it's much closer to the truth.
The PAD demonstrators have been given 24-hours to leave Government House so I'm sure there will be more happening during the course of Wednesday.