Protesters warned by police of junta ban

BANGKOK: Thai police yesterday declared Bangkok’s Government House, and surrounding streets, a no-go zone for today’s planned opposition march – marking four years since a May 22, 2014, coup, warning protesters not to defy a junta ban on public gatherings.

Around 3 000 police were on standby ahead of the march, which is due to start at Bangkok’s Thammasat University and end at Government House, in a bid to pressure the military government to hold a general election by November.

The junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), has repeatedly postponed the election but now insists a vote will be held by February. The military took power in 2014 following months of street protests and political unrest.

Deputy national police chief Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul warned protesters that Government House and the surrounding area would be out of bounds. He reminded protesters of a junta ban on public gatherings of more than five people.

The “We Want Voting Movement”, an alliance of anti-military groups, called on the junta to stop postponing the election date.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) urged the military government to “lift restrictions on fundamental rights” and hold an election.

Following the coup, the junta scrapped the constitution and wrote one that, critics say, is aimed at consolidating the army’s already sweeping powers.

Since the coup, the military has set about trying to weaken the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in 2006 and fled abroad. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted in the 2014 coup and also fled abroad, before being convicted in absentia of corruption.

Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a graft conviction in 2008, that he says was politically motivated, but he remains active in Thai politics.