Thai protesters come out again despite huge troops deployed

BANGKOK, June 1 (agencies): Hundreds of demonstrators shouting "Freedom!" and "Democracy!" rallied briefly Sunday near a major shopping mall in the heart of Thailand's capital to denounce the country's May 22 coup despite a lockdown by soldiers of some of the city's major intersections.   

Thailand's military government sent thousands of troops and police into central Bangkok on Sunday and effectively stifled protests against its seizure of power on May 22, limiting them to small groups of demonstrators in and around shopping malls.

The military took over on May 22 after the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had been weakened by months of protests that had forced ministries to close for weeks on end, hurt business confidence and caused the economy to shrink.

The political turmoil pits the Bangkok-based royalist establishment dominated by the military, old-money families and the bureaucracy against supporters of former telecommunications mogul Thaksin Shinawatra, who is adored by the poor in the north and northeast.

Thaksin, who was ousted as premier in a 2006 coup, is the brother of Yingluck and was considered the real power behind her government. He has chosen to live in exile since fleeing a 2008 conviction for abuse of power.

Since the latest coup, the military has banned political gatherings of five or more people and protests that have taken place in Bangkok have been small and brief.

Deputy police chief Somyot Poompanmoung had told Reuters that 5,700 police and soldiers would be sent into central Bangkok on Sunday and rapid deployment units were ready to stop protests that might spring up elsewhere.

Some top-end malls in the Ratchaprasong area chose to close or have reduced opening hours and the operator of the Skytrain overhead rail network shut several stations in the central area.

In the morning, Ratchaprasong had been swarming with police and media but there was barely a protester to be seen.

The cavernous Central World mall opened four hours later than normal at 2 p.m. (0700 GMT). By mid-afternoon there were only a handful of shoppers in the mall, parts of which were burnt to the ground in the mayhem after an army crackdown on pro-Thaksin "red shirt" protesters in 2010.

A group of protesters gathered on an elevated walkway leading to the nearby Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, scene of small protests in the days after the military declared martial law on May 20 prior to its full takeover of government.