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Your support makes all the difference.Police in Bangkok have used water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas in an effort to disperse pro-democracy protesters.
More than a thousand demonstrators gathered close to the king’s palace in the Thai capital to call for the release of protest leaders and to demand reforms to the scandal-plagued monarchy.
But they were met by hundreds of police in riot gear who charged the protesters and used water cannon to push the demonstration away from the palace.
Officers were heard warning via loudspeakers to arrest anyone who was on the streets.
The demonstrators poured into the city centre following the failure of the Thai parliament to pass a bill which would have rewritten the constitution, which was put in place by the military after a coup in 2014.
Police deputy spokesman Kissana Pattanacharoen told reporters five protesters had been arrested.
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"We repeatedly issued warnings before escalating our response," he said, adding that protesters used metal bars and threw stones and marbles.
The demonstrators are also protesting a mass trial which began this week of activists accused of sedition and insulting the monarchy.
“We are demanding real democracy and not a government that says it is elected but comes from the army,” a man who gave his name only as Kung, told Reuters news agency.
“The world has changed and we want the same kind of monarchy as in Western countries.”
Thailand has been locked in political turmoil for years, following the 2014 coup which brought army leader and now prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to power.
Although the military junta finally handed over power back to politicians in 2019, following a disputed election Mr Prayuth retained power as prime minister and the largest liberal opposition party was dissolved by the constitutional court the following year.
The current monarch, Vajiralongkorn, acceded to the throne in place of his popular and long-serving father Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016 but has quickly become another target of the young student-led pro-democracy protest movement.
Increasingly seen by many as a playboy, King Vajiralongkorn has spent most of the pandemic with his large entourage an alpine hotel in Germany.
Previously criticism of the monarchy was unheard of thanks to Bhumibol’s broad popularity and strict lèse-majesté laws which carry harsh penalties.
However, the current king’s attitude and broad powers to interfere in politics under the military-back constitution have angered many Thais, prompting preciously unprecedented attacks on the monarchy in public.
A portrait of the king was defaced during the current Bangkok protests.
Thailand's youth protest movement has posed the biggest challenge so far to Mr Prayuth, who recently survived a no confidence vote in parliament amid claims his government has not only abused human rights and fostered corruption, but is also bungling the rollout of coronavirus vaccines.
The Royal Palace has declined to directly comment on the protests, but Mr Prayuth and government officials have said that criticism of the king was unlawful and inappropriate.
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