Minor skirmishes erupted between anti-coup and pro-junta groups as people gathered to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the 2014 coup d’état.
On Sunday evening, 22 May 2016, about 500 people led by members of the New Democracy Movement (NDM) and several other pro-democracy political activist groups marched from Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus, to the Democracy Monument in Bangkok in an event called ‘2 Years with the Future that People Did Not Choose’.
Once at the Democracy Monument, pro-democracy activists criticised the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the formal name of the Thai junta, and talked about the political situation in the last two years.
During the activity, a group of around 20 pro-junta people shouted at the rally participants “The NCPO is not a dictatorship, all of you get out!”
At around 6:50 pm, police officers intervened in order to maintain order and separated the pro-junta and anti-junta crowds.
The event ended at around 8 pm after anti-junta groups sang pro-democracy rally anthems and urged people to participate in the upcoming public referendum to pass the draft constitution to determine their own destiny.
No serious physical skirmishes between the two groups have been reported.
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