Thailand’s junta bans all protests against coup

Associated Press

BANGKOK

More than 1,000 Thai troops and police sealed off one of Bangkok’s busiest intersections Thursday to prevent a planned protest, as authorities said they no longer would allow any demonstrations against last week’s military coup.

Truckloads of soldiers blocked all incoming roads to the capital’s Victory Monument in a massive show of force at the height of evening rush hour in an area that serves as one of the city’s commuter bus hubs.

More than a dozen police prisoner trucks were parked along the emptied roundabout, but there was little sign of protesters, who have come out almost daily to defy a ban on political gatherings.

A Belgian man was detained for displaying a T-shirt saying “Peace Please,” and two Thai women were taken away in a police truck after they showed signs with anti-coup messages.

The anti-coup demonstrations generally have been small and mostly leaderless, but protesters had planned to gather Thursday and called for a mass rally Sunday.

Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, the deputy national police chief, said the small protests no longer would be allowed. He said nine companies of soldiers and police — about 1,350 — were deployed in Thursday’s operation.