Bangkok, Aug 2: Protesters rallied Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced over 260,000.
Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained real power in the Southeast Asian country.
Police said there were about two thousand protesters by mid-afternoon, though more were expected to join as the temperature cooled.
Some locals accuse Paetongtarn and her family of allowing the conflict, which stretches back decades with both sides claiming pocket of lands near the shared borders, to escalate due to their close tied with Cambodian leader Hun Sen.
A court suspended the prime minster last month after Hun Sen leaked a phone call in which she called him “uncle” and appeared to denigrate a Thai general, angering many.
The most recent clashes ended with an uneasy Malaysian-brokered ceasefire on July 29. (AP)
