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		</div><p>Thai police early on Thursday dispersed a group of pro-democracy protesters who camped out overnight outside the office of the prime minister to demand his resignation, leading him to implement a “severe” state of emergency in the capital area.</p>
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<p>An Associated Press journalist saw riot police advance from multiple locations to force out a few hundred protesters who remained outside Government House, the seat of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.</p>
<p>Protesters were seen taken away into police trucks.<br />
Local media reported that the police operation came after Mr Prayuth declared a severe state of emergency in the Bangkok area to allow authorities to move against the protests.</p>
<figure id="attachment_163372" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-163372" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/D7AC83E6-4D17-4E9A-8173-3DFC3D6F0F31.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" class="size-full wp-image-163372" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-163372" class="wp-caption-text">Pro-democracy activists, from left, Panupong Jadnok, Arnon Nampha, Parit Chiwarak, raise three-finger salutes, a symbol of resistance, during a protest in Bangkok</figcaption></figure>
<p>Thailand is technically still under a state of emergency as part of coronavirus restrictions.<br />
Before the police dispersal, a large number of protesters had already left the area after one of the their leaders announced the end of the rally at Government House, though a few hundred stayed on.<br />
It was also announced that the rally would move to a different location in the capital on Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>The latest rally started on Wednesday with thousands of protesters marching from Bangkok’s Democracy Monument to Government House.<br />
It was the third major gathering by activists who want to keep up the momentum in their campaign for democratic change.</p>
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<p>The protesters have drawn attention because of their demands for reforms to Thailand’s constitutional monarchy, which they claim does not properly operate in a democratic framework.<br />
That demand has caused a huge controversy because the royal institution has long been considered sacrosanct and a pillar of Thai identity.<br />
It is also protected by a lese majeste law that mandates three to 15 years in prison for defaming the monarchy.<br />
Conservative royalist Thais accuse them of seeking to end the monarchy, an allegation they deny.</p>
<figure id="attachment_163371" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-163371" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1F62DAE5-F9BA-4F24-94BB-2B2A725D9FF9.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" class="size-full wp-image-163371" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-163371" class="wp-caption-text">Protesters sleep in front of Government House</figcaption></figure>
<p>Before leaving Democracy Monument, several small clashes broke out between protesters and their opponents, who traded punches and threw plastic bottles as police tried to keep them apart.<br />
The protest movement was launched in March by university students but quickly put on hold as Thailand was gripped by surges in coronavirus cases.</p>
<p>It came back in July, when the threat from the virus eased, and since then has again been spearheaded by students and publicised on social media.<br />
The movement’s original core demands were new elections, changes in the constitution to make it more democratic, and an end to intimidation of activists.</p>
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<p>The protesters charge that Mr Prayuth, who as army commander led a 2014 coup that toppled an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because laws had been changed to favour a pro-military party.</p>
<p>Protesters say a constitution promulgated under military rule is undemocratic.</p>
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