⁍ Thailand’s government announced emergency measures to ban gatherings of five or more people.
⁍ The response was one of the biggest demonstrations so far, in the heart of the capital.
⁍ Protests have built since mid-July in the biggest challenge in years to the political establishment.
– Tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Bangkok on Thursday after Thailand’s military government declared a state of emergency in the face of three months of protests, the AP reports. The protests began in mid-July calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who leads a military junta that seized power in a 2014 coup. Protesters say they are trying to oust Prayuth from power and rein in the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. “I’m not afraid. Emergency or not, I have no freedom,” one 26-year-old protester tells Reuters. “I want freedom to exist in this country. I want it to be free from this vicious cycle.” The protests came after protesters jeered the motorcade of Queen Suthida during a visit from Europe, where she and the king spend most of their time. On Wednesday, the government shut down a protest camp outside Prayuth’s office and arrested protest leaders. The protests have become the biggest challenge to Thailand’s political establishment in years. “We have to create understanding with the protesters,’ government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri told Reuters, complaining that protest leaders were not giving protesters ‘complete information.’ Police said they would arrest all protesters, though they did not explain how they would charge tens of thousands of people.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-protests-scene/i-want-freedom-thais-mass-to-defy-protest-ban-idUSKBN2702RE