Thai police have fired rubber bullets on protesters in the historical center of Bangkok, The Reporters news portal broadcast the event live
BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2021) Thai police have fired rubber bullets on protesters in the historical center of Bangkok, The Reporters news portal broadcast the event live.
At 8:20 p.m. (13:20 GMT), the police demanded that the demonstrators leave an area near the Pinklao Bridge, not far from the king's Grand palace and the campus of Thammasat University, warning that they would use rubber bullets otherwise.
After a while, the police began firing rubber bullets. The demonstrators, who are about 50 meters away from the police cordon, try to throw water bottles at officers. Several times, shots from flare guns were seen and heard coming from the side of protesters.
Clashes with police first started near the Grand Palace and the main square of Bangkok at 7:00 p.m. Before that, police forced the demonstrators out of the main square, where they broke into by pushing back two of dozens of 20-foot shipping containers.
The demonstrators who broke into the main square were met with water cannons and tear gas grenades. The police first demanded that the demonstrators retreat to the Pinklao Bridge and then completely clear the area around the main square.
At around 7:30 p.m., organizers declared the end of the protest and invited everyone to disperse. Some radical participants stayed in the area and kept hurling bottles and tear gas grenades at police.
As of 8:50 p.m. there were reports about two injured a young woman whose leg was hit by a tear gas grenade and an ambulance nurse who received a rubber bullet in the leg when he ran to help the girl.
The country has been gripped by protests against the military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha since December 2019. Pro-democracy protesters demand the cabinet's resignation as well as a constitution and monarchy reform.
