Anti-government protesters in Thailand have launched rockets full of paint at police as their stand against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s administration continues.
In remarkable pictures taken from one Bangkok’s busiest roads, the Nang Loeng Intersection, thousands of people of all ages can be seen armed with placards, signs and, in some cases, home-made paint rockets.
The site has been regularly used as a front-line battleground between riot police and protesters – who harbour fury over the Government’s Covid response, vaccine rollout and deepening economic woes.
On Saturday, several pro-democracy activists were pictured with crudely constructed contraptions including paint projectiles that were made with plastic bottles.
The group fired water rockets with red liquid and launched firecrackers towards riot police equipped with huge shields – who responded in turn by turning water cannons on the protesters.
Thailand’s capital has been the bedrock of grass-roots activism over the past 12 months due to growing unrest at the 67-year-old Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, and his administration.
Thousands have called for the controversial premier’s resignation, as he comfortably survived a vote of no confidence three weeks ago.
Youth-led anti-government groups have sought PM Prayuth’s removal since last year and have returned with renewed support after lockdown, record Covid-19 deaths and a haphazard vaccine rollout.
Demonstrators have threatened nationwide protests as concern mounts over the future of country.
Staunch royalist Prayuth took power in a 2014 military coup and remained prime minister after a 2019 election, making him the longest-serving Thai leader since the end of the Cold War.
The protests against him, which are outlawed under coronavirus restrictions, have gathered steam in recent weeks, despite frequent, at times violent clashes with police who have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon.
In the country’s capital, Bangkok, pro-democracy demonstrators regularly show the three-finger salute – popularised in The Hunger Games trilogy – as a unifying sign of resistance and solidarity.
Masked protesters were pictured on Saturday pitching up alongside barbed wire encampments as their stand against police began.
Demonstrators threw firecrackers and launched projectiles filled with water at riot police, who quickly tried to counter by flushing them out with water cannons.
Earlier this month, more than 1,000 people peacefully gathered at central Bangkok’s busy Asoke intersection.
Revolting Thai factions, including ‘car mobs’ who stage protests in their vehicles, ‘red shirt’ supporters of ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra and pupils calling themselves ‘bad students’ have urged for reforms.
Their fury stems from their claim that the Government’s botched coronavirus response has led to excess deaths and a flailing economy.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has received most of the flak, but another five cabinet ministers survived a vote of no confidence held in Parliament on September 4.
Thailand has recorded over 1.2 million infections and 12,103 deaths since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with most of the cases and deaths occurring since April.
