The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thailand PM rejects calls for resignation amid crackdown
BANGKOK— Thailand’s prime minister rejected calls for his resignation Friday, while riot police cracked down on thousands of student- led protesters who rallied in the capital in defiance of a strict state of emergency.
Police used water cannons and charged at the crowd, scattering protesters.
The protesters had gathered in torrential monsoon rains to push their core demands, including that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan- ocha leave office, the constitution be amended and the nation’s monarchy undergo reform.
It was the second day they defied an order not to gather, imposed after some demonstrators heckled a royal motorcade, an unprecedented development in Thailand, where the monarchy is normally held in reverence.
Police had earlier closed roads and put up barricades around a major Bangkok intersection where some 10,000 protesters defied the new decree. Police in riot gear secured the area, while malls in the busy shopping district closed early. Nearby mass transit stations were closed to stop crowds of protesters from getting near the area.
The student protesters, however,
simply moved down the street to another large intersection.
Prayuth’s government declared a strict new state of emergency for the capital Thursday, a day after the heckling of the motorcade.
The state of emergency outlaws public gatherings of more than five people and bans the dissemination of news that is deemed to threaten national security. It also gives authorities broad powers, including detaining people at length without charge.
A number of protest leaders have already been rounded up since the decree went into effffffect. On Friday another two activists were arrested under a law covering violence against the queen for their alleged part in the heckling of the motorcade. They could face up to life in prison if convicted.
The protest movement was launched in March by university students and its original core demands were new elections, changes in the constitution to make it more democratic, and an end to intimidation of activists.
The protesters charge that Prayuth, who as army commander led a 2014 coup that toppled an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because laws had been changed to favor a pro- military party.