Troop deployment stifles coup protests in Thailand

Thailand’s military government sent thousands of troops and police into central Bangkok yesterday, stifling any mass dissent against the army’s coup on May 22 and limiting protesters to small gatherings held mostly around shopping malls.

The military toppled the remnants of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration after months of protests forced ministries to close, hurt business confidence and caused the economy to shrink. Yingluck herself was ordered to step down two weeks before the coup when a court found her guilty of abuse of power.

A force of 5,700 police and soldiers was deployed in central Bangkok yesterday, and rapid deployment units were on hand to stop protests against the coup that might spring up elsewhere, deputy police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said yesterday.

The military has banned political gatherings of five or more people and protests that have taken place in Bangkok have been small and brief.

A group of protesters gathered yesterday on an elevated walkway leading to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, scene of small protests in the days after the military declared martial law on May 20 prior to its full takeover of government. Hundreds of troops with riot gear arrived and suddenly stormed the walkway, sending protesters and onlookers fleeing.

Earlier, a group of about 30 people protested inside Terminal 21 mall in the Asoke area and a group of a similar size gathered at Thammasart University near the Royal Palace, one of the sites most visited by tourists in Bangkok.

Many protesters signalled their opposition to the coup by holding three middle fingers of one hand up in the air, which some said stood for freedom, equality and brotherhood. A few displayed signs bearing the words “No Coup”. Police detained one of the protesters in Asoke. On Saturday, as on the two previous days, the authorities closed normally busy roads around Victory Monument, which was becoming a focal point for opposition to the coup. The area was flooded with police and troops but no protesters turned up.

Some top-end malls in the Ratchaprasong area chose to close or have reduced opening hours and the operator of the Skytrain overhead rail network shut several stations in the central area.

In the morning, Ratchaprasong swarmed with police and media but there was barely a protester to be seen.

The cavernous Central World mall opened four hours later than normal at 2pm (0700 GMT). By mid-afternoon there were only a handful of shoppers in the mall, parts of which were burnt to the ground in the mayhem after an army crackdown on protesters in 2010.

“I feel safer now so, no, I didn’t change my plans to come,” said an expatriate US woman who has lived in Thailand for 30 years. “This country has been in turmoil for three years. It couldn’t move forward under the previous government. I hope things can be resolved now.”