LED by Mr. Parit Chivarak, or Penguin, protesters passed through a police barricade and succeeded in setting up a market in front of the Government House for vendors and restaurateurs hit by a new ban on dine-in service with only takeaways allowed while also continuing to pressure Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down, Thai Rath newspaper said this evening (July 2).
When the protesters, who marched to the front of the Government House from Uruphong intersection, reached the area where they set up the market, some vendors were already there with their goods.
Led by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration and People’s Party (or Rasadorn Group) and entitled “Opening at the end of Friday, chasing the dictator”, the protesters had carefully placed the stalls a distance apart in keeping with public health measures.
Read earlier report: Police fully ready for this evening’s rally
Guards surrounded the makeshift market to ensure security but when speeches were to start at 5.25 p.m. it started raining heavily.
Meanwhile police had rolled out barbed wire and placed metal panels across Phitsanulok road to prevent the protesters from crossing the Chamai Maruchet Bridge and get close to the Government House. Two water cannon trucks were parked nearby.
Penguin said before they set out on the march that the announcement by Gen. Prayut at 1 a.m. in the morning caused a lot of trouble for business operators because they are unable to sell.
This being the case the protesters are opening a market at the Govenrment House for them to do so, he addd.
CAPTION:
Today’s protest from 4 p.m. onwards with Penguin and Ms. Panusaya Sitthichirawattanakul, or Rung, seen in some of the images. The banner in above photo asks, “Do you see the people’s tears and the pile of dead bodies?” All photos: Thai Rath
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