Thai police fire water cannon, tear gas at latest democracy rally
Thai police on Tuesday fired water cannon and tear
gas on pro-democracy protesters attempting to get close to parliament, where
lawmakers were debating possible changes to the military-scripted constitution.
Thailand has seen months of student-led
demonstrations demanding reform to the constitution and monarchy, and for the
current prime minister to quit.
Several thousand took to the streets around the
parliament building Tuesday, where riot police had blocked off roads with
concrete and barbed wire.
Police fired water cannon at protesters trying to
dismantle a barricade, and later used water laced with irritant, sending
demonstrators scrambling to wash their eyes.
Some sheltered behind giant inflatable rubber ducks
which protesters had planned to float along the river behind parliament as
lawmakers debated inside.
"What are police thinking by firing water
cannon at people? The police are serving a dictator," one protest leader
said over a loudspeaker.
At one point police were forced to retreat when protesters
threw tear gas canisters back into their lines. Five people were taken to
hospital for treatment, medical officials said.
Student-led rallies have rocked Thailand since July,
demanding the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha -- who took power in
a 2014 coup -- and reform of the military-scripted constitution.
Some in the movement have also called for reforms to
the monarchy -- a once-taboo subject -- sending shockwaves through the Thai
establishment.
As police and protesters clashed, lawmakers were
considering whether to debate seven possible constitutional amendments.
They include a proposal to replace the present
military appointments in the Senate with directly elected representatives.
But any constitutional change in Thailand is expected
to take a long time and the junta-appointed Senate is unlikely to vote itself
out of power.
Protesters insisted they just wanted to listen to
the parliamentary debate.
Several opposition lawmakers came out of parliament
to observe the protest and try to urge the police not to crack down hard on
demonstrators.
Taopipop Limjittrakorn, an MP from the pro-reform
Move Forward Party said police were ignoring pleas to de-escalate the
situation.
"Police should not be overly violent and
threaten them," he told reporters.
One group of protesters confronted several hundred
ultra-royalist supporters who were staging their own rally, with the two sides
throwing bottles and other objects at each other.
The royalists are against all proposals to change
Thailand's 2017 constitution, saying they would undermine the monarchy.
Parliament is expected to vote on Wednesday on which
constitutional amendments bills will be debated.
