Skirmishes have erupted once more in Bangkok between Thai police and demonstrators, who demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha for his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Demonstrators marched en masse to the prime minister’s official residence in the capital city on Friday, crying “Prayuth, get out!”. Banners and posters echoed a similar sentiment, with some branding the government as a “failed state”.
Several of the activists hold grievances about the country’s response to the pandemic: “The failed management of COVID-19 by the government has caused people to die. Today we are out here to get rid of Prayuth,” demonstrator Songpon “Yajai” Sonthirak declared, as cited by Reuters.
Footage on Twitter purported to show police launching tear gas at protesters who used flash-bang grenades to provoke authorities. The organizers of the event called for protests earlier on Friday to engage in non-violent demonstrations against police as they are not the “target”.
Friday’s protests were part of a chain of demonstrations that rocked Bangkok this week. On Wednesday, activists rallied in the capital, but their efforts were squashed early by police after mass demonstrations on the previous day resulted in the injury of six police officers and several arrests. Similar clashes broke out on Saturday between authorities and activists who called for the prime minister to leave office.
Prayuth has come under fire for his response to Thailand’s coronavirus pandemic, with the Southeast Asian country tallying a record high number of 23,400 new infections on Friday, which the health ministry predicted could snowball to 45,000 a day by September.
Thai authorities had recently tried to pass an order that prohibits news which “causes public fear” amid growing criticism of the government’s actions during the Covid outbreak. However, the directive was overturned earlier this week by the Thai civil court.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Southeast Asian country has registered over 863,000 coronavirus infections, alongside 7,126 Covid-related fatalities.
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