An anti-government protest leader announced an end to the protest near the Government House at about 6.30pm this evening (Sunday) after several hours facing-off against crowd control police, who fired water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to break up the rally when some hard-core protesters tried to force their way through steel barricade and razor wire towards Government House.
The protest leader said that several of them had been injured and had decided to end the rally, but warned that they would protest again on a date yet to be fixed.
During the height of the confrontation, on Phitsanuloke Road near the Ratchavinit School, protesters used several trucks to shield them from the rubber bullets and tear gas, fired at them by the police as they tried to approach Government House.
15 protest groups, led by the Free Youth movement, gathered at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok at about 2pm and the procession moved along Rajdamnoen Avenue toward their destination.
Many carried straw men, to symbolize the victims of COVID-19, and an effigy of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha, as the “Wevo” guards took the lead.
The protesters demanded the unconditional resignation of the prime minister, cuts to budgets for the military and the palace and mRNA vaccines.
Police blocked all the access to Government House with cargo containers, steel barricades and razor wire.
This morning, police searched the houses of some protest leaders, to look for illegal items, but found only numerous straw men instead.