Activist group Taloo-Fah organized peaceful demonstrations and a Buddhist ceremony in some Bangkok locations.
Its leader, Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattararaksa, hosted the peaceful pro-democracy event.
Smaller groups gathered at the Ratchaprasong intersection and Pathumwan, where a candle-making ceremony was also held, joining Buddhist Lent’s traditional celebrations.
Demonstrations’ organizers said the activity was held to mark the Buddhist holiday that began on July 20 and had been running over the last five days.
Protesters collected the candles before converging on the Victory Monument around 03:00 p.m.
Later, they used the candles to symbolize their protests’ core demands, which comprise democracy restoration in the kingdom and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s resignation.
They also staged symbolic ceremonies, showing their discontent at the prime minister’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the health crisis in Thailand.
As one of their activities, demonstrators also burned portraits of the prime minister and puppet corpses representing Covid-19 victims.
After the groups merged, they marched to Government House to continue their rally and arrived at their last destination at around 4:25 p.m.
Security forces, including crowd control police, were ordered to deploy around 4:15 p.m.
Preparing for protesters’ arrival, officers set up traffic barricades, shipping containers, and barbed wire fences to contain marching people.
Agents also had trucks with water cannons ready to spray crowds with high-pressure water in the event of a confrontation.
Unlike previous similar events, including one in Phuket yesterday’s afternoon, protesters groups and police remained peaceful during the protests.
The demonstration ended without incident after Taloo-Fah’s leader called it off at 5:30 p.m.
