Thai protesters, police clash in Bangkok

Anti-junta protesters have clashed with Thai police trying to block their march to the Government House, during a protest to demand the holding of general elections without further delay.

Thai police declared the Government House and surrounding streets a no-go zone as the anti-junta protesters planned to march there on Tuesday to mark four years of military rule since a May 2014 coup.

Hundreds of protesters began marching from Thammasat University in Bangkok to the seat of the government in the capital to demand that the military government hold general elections by November, but their progress was obstructed by police.

Some of the protesters pushed against police for several minutes before backing off.

Several people fainted in the middle of the crowds. At least one of them, a female, was transferred to hospital.

One of the protest organizers, Sirawith Seritiwat, also known as Ja New, said the demonstrators planned to march peacefully.

“I hope they will let us walk out. We have no intention to prolong today’s activities. I think they will try to stop us... we will not use violence,” Sirawith said, indicating that they may scatter if faced with heavy police resistance.

The protesters were carrying Thai flags and paper fans with a cartoon of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha made to look like Pinocchio.

“It is the four-year anniversary of the coup and I think now is the time to change,” said Rangsiman Rome, a protest leader.

Police said about 500 demonstrators had gathered, warning protesters not to carry on with their march.

“Authorities will use the law 100 percent. If they walk out, we will use the law immediately. We have put forces all around Government House... if they come in to these areas, there will be a prison sentence of up to six months,” deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said.

“Police have no weapons. They are carrying only batons,” he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told the reporters gathered at Government House that the demonstrators were welcome to send a representative to the premier’s office.

Ahead of the protests, activists complained of the police crackdown.

Sunai Phasuk, a Thai researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch group, said on Monday that two activists had been detained and were being held in solitary confinement.

“Their alleged ‘crime’ is providing loud speakers for an anti-junta rally,” Sunai tweeted. The pair was later released, however.

International and domestic polls showed that the junta is facing a public perception crisis, and indicated that corruption is as endemic as ever.

The government has delayed general elections several times since the 2014 coup, with the latest date now set for February 2019. Some fear another postponement.

No compromise

Prime Minister Prayuth later rejected the protesters’ demands for an early vote, stressing that the general elections would take place in “early 2019 and no sooner.”

Thailand has been hit by pro- and anti-government demonstrations for more than a decade, some of them leading to losses of life.

The country has experienced more coups than any other country in recent history since the Siamese Revolution of 1932, when over six centuries of absolute monarchy was ended.

The military says it conducted the 2014 coup to end a cycle of violence. Protests, some of them violent, had been staged against the government that was ousted by the military back then.

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