The protest dragged on from Thursday's night to Friday afternoon..

Metropolitan Police Division VI deputy commander Colonel Supisal Pakdeenarunart said the 26 suspected protest leaders would be charged with illegal gathering attended by more than 10 people, blocking traffic, causing disturbance, obstructing officials' duty and refusing to obey the officials' orders.

If convicted, they faced up to three years in jail.

The arrests took place after the protest turned violent with demonstrators hurling abuses, water bottles and chairs against police officers.

Female commander police officers were deployed to arrest the violent female demonstrators.

The protest, attended by about 2,000 people, started since 7.30pm Thursday as vendors on footpath along the Padung Krungkasem Canal in the heart of Bangkok were unhappy that seven of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) garbage trucks and toilet trucks parked at the same footpath.

The trucks were parked there following a big fire in the Bo Bae Market on December 29.

Earlier, BMA has planned to relocate the vendors out of the footpath but has met with strong opposition from the vendors who have operated their stalls there for more than 20 years.

Their stalls formed a part of the Bo Bae market.

The vendors also erected tents at the nearby intersection, blocking traffic and causing severe traffic congestion in neighbouring areas. They demanded a negotiation with Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin.

About 600 police officers could not stop the vendors from blocking the traffic at that time because children and women formed the front of the crowds that pushed against shield holding officers.

By Friday morning, the protest by the Bo Bae vendors paralysed traffic flow so much that so many connecting areas suffered serious impacts.

At 8.30 am, police announced that they were going to use harsh measures if the demonstrators refused to clear way for traffic.

At 10 am, the demonstrators cleared way for the traffic but continued with sitin protest on the footpath.

BMA later sent backhoes to the spot, starting its plan to improve the landscape on the footpath. The sight of the backhoes angered the demonstrators, some of which started hurling abuses, chairs and water bottles against police officers.

The arrests then followed.

By 1.30 pm, police officers managed to disperse the demonstrators and took hold of the footpath.

Sak Silapacharoenporn, one of the vendors, complained that he had operated his stall on the footpath for more than 20 years and never had any conflict with previous Bangkok governors.

"BMA has told us to relocate to another spot. But that spot is crowded and I will be asked to pay Bt200,000 and Bt300,000 for the lease there. How could I afford it?" the 52yearold vendor said.

 Kriang sae Tang, a clerk for one of the stalls, tearfully said that she was going to lose her job now that her employer did not have any space to operate the stall.

"Why did the authorities do this to us? We have already suffered a lot. There's a big fire and now there will be no more stalls for us," she said.

The Nation