Tensions flare as protesters urge Thai PM to quit

Thai riot police have fired tear gas to control an anti-government crowd that has massed in downtown Bangkok.

Thousands of police were deployed for the rally Saturday, organized by the royalist group Pitak Siam, which wants Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government to step down.

About 17,000 police on Saturday were deployed for the rally in Bangkok’s historic district, which was organised by the royalist group Pitak Siam, a relatively new force in the kingdom’s fractured political scene.

“In the name of Pitak Siam and its allies I promise that we will topple this government,” the movement’s head, retired general Boonlert Kaewprasit, declared from the rally stage.

The authorities expected tens of thousands of people to attend the demo, which comes about two and a half years after dozens of people died in a military crackdown on opposition protests in the heart of the capital.

Police estimated that about 20,000 people participated in the rally.

Police said they fired tear gas at a group of protesters who removed barbed wire and barriers blocking their route in front of a UN building close to the main rally site.

“Tear gas was used in one area because protesters did not comply with the rules,” said national police spokesman Major General Piya Uthayo.

The authorities called in an extra 5,700 police after the skirmishes, but said they would allow the rally to go ahead at the Royal Plaza so long as the other protesters gathered peacefully.

The government has invoked the Internal Security Act, allowing police to detain protesters.

Authorities say police fired tear gas at a group of demonstrators who tried to break through barriers and were not following police orders.

Several police officers and protestors have been injured in clashes.