Legal action will be taken against the demonstrators who ran riot and set fire to a police vehicle near the Din Daeng intersection after marching from Democracy Monument to Victory Monument in protest against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Saturday afternoon, Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Pol Maj Gen Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek said in a press conference.
Pol Maj Gen Jirasan said about 200 protesters began to converge at Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen avenue at about 2pm.
They then marched to Victory Monument, where they rallied against the government with Gen Prayut as prime minister.
At about 6pm, they announced the end of the protest and dispersed.
Some of the protesters went on to the Din Daeng intersection and looked set to proceed on foot along the Vibhavadi Rangsit highway towards Gen Prayut's residence in the 1st Infantry Regiment. Crowd control police then formed a line across the highway to block them from advancing. An anti-riot truck with a water cannon was called to the scene.
The disgruntled protesters then set fire to a police vehicle parked in front of the Office of the Narcotic Control Board. They hurled flares, large firecrackers, glass balls and glass bottles at the anti-riot police.
Following intermittent clashes with police the protesters, some of them riding on motorcycles, dispersed at about 8.30pm.
Pol Maj Gen Jirasan said the protesters, some of them armed, had damaged government property and caused a public disturbance. Police were gathering evidence to take legal action against them, he added.
People who witnessed the incident can call 191 or 1599 to give information to the police, he said.
