About 3,000 angry protesters gather at the Nation Group’s headquarters yesterday responding to a ‘Kom Chad Luek’ report concerning HM the King.

The decision ended a blockade of Nation Media Group headquarters by the Caravan of the Poor that began at 10am.

The agreement was the result of tense negotiations between senior editors of the Nation Media Group and representatives of the Caravan of the Poor that took place while hostile protesters blocked all entrances to the compound on Bang Na-Trat Road.

Jakrit Permpoon, a senior editor, told the crowd that the daily would cease publishing for two days in addition to the three-day suspension earlier announced. The additional days are April 8 and 9.

Jakrit said that the newspaper and the reporter who interviewed Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of People's Alliance for Democracy, confirmed that Sondhi had been quoted accurately.

 The Thai-language daily had earlier announced it would stop publishing for three days from today and that the editor of Kom Chad Luek, Korkhet Chantalertlak, and the reporter who wrote the controversial news report had submitted their resignations. The paper also submitted an appeal for a royal pardon to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Secretary.

The protesters were not satisfied with this.

They arrived en masse in vans and pickups at 10am, using their vehicles to block Bang Na-Trat Road. They erected three tents as shelters.

The demonstration caused heavy traffic jams. Police sealed off the road and diverted traffic.

About 200 policemen were deployed at Nation Group's compound to provide security. Barricades were erected at the entrance.

The protesters locked arms to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the compound.

They also barred staff of companies in Nation Tower from leaving. After lengthy negotiations, they allowed them to leave the compound if they could show identity cards proving they were not employees of Nation Group.

Many staff members of Nation Group who hid their identity cards failed to convince the protesters to allow them to enter the compound. Four female reporters were blocked at the back gate but managed to scramble over a fence and sneak in.

The blockade was so severe that a pregnant journalist who tried to leave the compound was accused of faking her pregnancy.

In the morning, the demonstrators demanded that the journalist who wrote the report deemed lese majeste explain himself to the crowd.

A protest leader demanded through a loudspeaker that the reporter who interviewed Manager Media founder Sondhi should surrender to the protesters and tell them what Sondhi had really said.

The protesters said that some of Sondhi's remarks published in Kom Chad Luek last week were lese majeste.

Sondhi denied making the statements, saying the newspaper had not fully reported his comments.

Initial negotiations between senior Nation Media Group editors and protest leaders failed to convince the demonstrators to disperse.

The protest leaders demanded that the editor resign not only from the paper, but also from the news profession. They vowed to continue the protest until a royal pardon was issued.

"The reporter should surrender himself to the protesters and say what Sondhi said that day. The reporter should confirm that his reporting is accurate and that Sondhi really said that," a protest leader shouted through a loudspeaker.

The Nation believes that the protesters' real target is not Kom Chad Luek but Sondhi, and that they wanted the reporter to implicate the Manager Media founder.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Kom Chad Luek said its editorial department reaffirmed its full allegiance to the Monarchy and would loyally uphold Royal power, as it has always done in its reporting.

In the statement, Thepchai Yong, group editor of Nation Multimedia, said: "The Kom Chad Luek newspaper is punishing itself for the mistake by ceasing publication for three days."