Thailand: protesters enter Government compound

(Vatican Radio) Police defending the main government compound in Bangkok ended their resistance and stood aside, letting protestors push through barricades to approach the building. Alastair Wanklyn reports:

The streets were largely quiet -- apart from fireworks from jubilant protestors who considered the move a partial victory in their campaign to oust the Thai government.

A government spokesman said it had ordered the police to stand aside to avoid further violence.

Several days of fighting saw protestors ramming barricades with vehicles, and police firing back, with tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets. On Tuesday, half a dozen burned-out police trucks were said to be seen amid the broken glass and bricks on a main road leading to the government compound.

The protestors want the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to quit, proposing that Thailand be run instead by some kind of national committee.

On Monday, the prime minister rejected that demand as unconstitutional, but said she was open to holding talks with protestors.

For Vatican Radio, Alastair Wanklyn reporting.