Traffic is moving through the Thai capital’s financial district this afternoon, but the departure of protesters could lead to disruption of another busy area.
After descending en mass onto Silom Road to blow whistles this afternoon to protest proposed government amnesty bill, thousands of protesters have cleared the street. Many however have made their way to Democracy Monument, which some have indicated will be the new headquarters for their demonstrations.
Here’s our video from the scene along with observations from social media.
- Protesters blew whistles at 12:34 pm, signalling their opposition to a proposed amnesty bill:
Silom traffic has been blocked on both ways by anti-amnesty protest. The crowd is big.
— tulsathit (@tulsathit) November 4, 2013
- Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made an appearance in support of protesters:
ex-premier @Abhisit_DP also show up on #silom road for the protest against #amnestybill pic.twitter.com/beTTxNrfm4
— ThaiPBS English News (@ThaipbsEngNews) November 4, 2013
- Police negotiated with protesters to disperse from the site, which was clear by 3:30 pm:
3:30pm Latest picture from Silom shows no protesters on the road – RT @tumsawan: เปิดสีลมแล้ว pic.twitter.com/Q5YjtyRkgy
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) November 4, 2013
- Many made their way to Democracy Monument, which could become a new base of operations:
Democrat Party-led anti-amnesty bill group announced they will seize Democracy Monument and use as their main rally site #amnestybill
— Amy Sawitta Lefevre (@MimiSawitta) November 4, 2013
Photo: Siwaporn Wongchaiyakul
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