Pro-democracy protesters defy Thai junta with rare rally
Source: AP
BANGKOK (AP) — Moe than 200 pro-democracy activists defied Thailand's junta and staged a rare protest in the capital that marked the anniversary of a coup that had pushed the Southeast Asian nation into a nearly decade-long turmoil.
The activists Saturday evening marched peacefully to Bangkok's Democracy Monument, a symbolic location that has become a rallying point for protests in recent years. They carried anti-junta banners and shouted pro-democracy slogans as a ring of police kept watch but did not break up the rally.
The demonstration started with a forum at Bangkok's Thammasat University that was allowed by authorities, but they denied a request for a march outside of the campus.
The protesters, from a group called the New Democracy Movement, called the rally to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 19, 2006, coup that unseated then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on allegations of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for the king. The coup plunged Thailand into a cycle of sometimes violent street protests as Thaksin's supporters and opponents struggled for power.
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Pro-democracy protester wears a mask at Democracy monument in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. Pro-democracy protesters in Thailand have defied a ban on protests and staged a the largest rally against the ruling military government in months .(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
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