THAIGER TODAY Thursday, February 22

UPDATE: The protesters announced that the rally would end and disperse peacefully at 9.35pm. They wrapped up the gathering after delivering a symbolic letter of demand for the prime minister’s resignation at the front of Government Hose. Apart from some earlier scuffles with police around 7pm, there were no major incidents this evening.

EARLIER: Happening at Bangkok’s Government House around 9pm…

Protesters started arriving around 7.30pm, again demanding the PM’s resignation, and even had a letter prepared for him to sign, PM Prayut was not at Government Hose at the time. Protesters continued to amass at the front of Government House after breaking through a police cordon at Urupong Intersection. Earlier they gathered at the Victory Monument roundabout (and BTS station).

Police have blocked off the entrance to Government House with 2 public buses, barbed wire and police dressed in riot gear that have been shipped in from Saraburi Province. Protesters are already preparing for a potential confrontation and are dressing in raincoats, hardhats, goggles and armed with umbrellas, presumably in anticipation of another spray from the water cannons. They continue to shout “Prayut, get out!” Protest leaders are also calling on the growing crowd to remain “chilled” and not resort to violence.

“If he won’t resign, we won’t go home.”

Behind the 2 buses there are also the high powered water cannons which were used against protesters last Friday night at the Prathunwan intersection in central Bangkok. Despite the calls for the continuation of a peaceful protest, both sides appear ready for some conflict this evening. Earlier protesters were demanding the release of some of the movement leaders who continue to be arrested with an array of charges, some still in detention in prisons north of the city.

The Prime Minister appeared on television tonight at 7pm and committed to the Thai people to help resolve the current impasse between the widening protest movement and the Government. He went on to say that his government “is prepared to withdraw emergency rules banning large gatherings in Bangkok” if the growing protest movement “remains peaceful”.

“At this point, we all need to take a step back, to step back from the brink, away from the path that would plunge Thailand into disaster.”

PM Prayut did no address the issue of the demands for his resignation.

An emergency session of Parliament has been scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday where opposition parties say they will challenge the government coalition to address the demands of the protesters, including the tetchy issue of reforming the role of the Thai monarchy.

A python has bitten a woman on her backside and finger while using the toilet at a home in Samut Prakan, southeast of Bangkok. Rescue volunteers were called to her home, and said there was a lot of blood at the scene. The woman was later taken to the hospital.

The incident may sound shocking to some, but in Thailand, reports of snakes biting people who are on the toilet isn’t that uncommon. Snakes can live and thrive in the sewers, usually hunting down rats, and sometimes enter pipes leading up to the toilet bowls.

Just last month, an 18 year old university in Nonthaburi, a suburb just west of Bangkok, was bitten on his penis by a python that was in the toilet bowl. He had to get 3 stitches. Another man’s penis was bit by a snake while he was using the bathroom last year. He ended up with 15 stitches.

SOURCE:Facebook

Police have issued an additional arrest warrant for a protester who allegedly attempted to “harm the HM the Queen’s liberty” during a royal motorcade last week. The motorcade happened to be on the same day and same route as a pro-democracy protest in Bangkok. So far, 3 protesters face charges for an alleged “act of violence against the HM the Queen’s liberty” and could face up to life in prison if found guilty.

Suranat Paenprasert, a coordinator for Active Youth, now faces charges of 16 to 20 years in prison, or even up to life in prison, for allegedly violating Section 110 of Thailand’s Criminal Code which prohibits acts of violence against the HM the Queen or Her liberty.

Section 110: Violence against the Queen

Whoever commits an act of violence against the Queen or Her liberty, the Heir-apparent or His liberty, or the Regent or his/her liberty, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or imprisonment of sixteen to twenty years.

2 other protesters, Ekkachai Hongkangwan and Boonkueanoon Paothong, also face the same charges of alleged “violence against the Queen’s liberty” during the royal motorcade. The New York Times reports the “act of violence” was apparently yelling at the royal motorcade. In photos, crowds of protesters were seen on the royal motorcade route holding their hands up in the 3-finger salute, a symbol of defiance.

Many of the protesters were also shouting “our taxes”, in Thai, at the occupants of the yellow Rolls Royce.

Ekkachai and Boonkueanoon may also face charges under Thailand’s lèse majesté law under Section 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code, according to an earlier report from the Bangkok Post. If found guilty, the additional charge would make their punishment more severe.

Section 112: Insulting or Defaming the Royal Family

Whoever, defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.

SOURCES: Nation Thailand | New York Times