Protestors support controversial gas pipeline

About forty-thousand people have staged a protest in Thailand in support of a controversial gas pipeline which has been criticised for damaging the environment.

The protestors in the western Thai province of Kanchanaburi demanded that work on the pipeline be completed.

Construction was suspended after environmental groups set up camps at the site of the pipeline saying that it would cause damage to a forest.

Correspondents say today's protest was sponsored by business and industrial organisations worried by growing opposition to the pipeline.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service