Thailand

BANGKOK, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Thai police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters near the office of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Monday, as opposition parties moved to censure him in parliament over his handling of a COVID-19 crisis.

Hundreds of protesters marched on the Government House to demand Prayuth resigns, the latest show of growing public anger about a worsening epidemic and a chaotic vaccine rollout.

BANGKOK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Thai police clashed with demonstrators on Friday after hundreds defied a ban on gatherings to rally in central Bangkok, where they attempted to march on the prime minister's residence to demand his resignation over the country's coronavirus crisis.

Police fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets from an elevated highway in response to demonstrators who tried to pull down containers that were being used as roadblocks, in a third day of confrontation this week.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s government backed down Tuesday from widely-criticized regulations to broaden its ability to restrict media reports and social media posts about the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had long sought to crack down on what he deems fake news. But the new regulations, enacted at the end of last month, included the ability to prosecute people for distributing “news that may cause public fear.”

BANGKOK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - More than a thousand Thai anti-government protesters clashed with police on Saturday, as they demonstrated against the government's failure to handle coronavirus outbreaks and its impact on the economy.

About a hundred police officers in riot gear sealed off a road near Victory Monument in the capital Bangkok with containers and used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to stop a march toward Government House, the office of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities have ordered heightened security measures on the resort island of Phuket after the discovery of the body of a 57-year-old Swiss tourist amid signs of foul play, officials said Friday.

The woman’s partially clad body was found face down in water in a rock crevice near a waterfall Thursday afternoon by an island resident, police said.

From the condition of the body, it appeared she had been dead for several days, Phuket regional police commander Kitirath Phanpetch told local MCOT television.

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai protest leader on Tuesday renewed calls for the reform of the country’s monarchy and suggested that time was running out for the powerful institution to respond.

“This year shall be the last year that we will discuss monarchy reform. After this, whatever will happen, will happen. You can’t stop the sun rising. You can’t control what people believe in,” Arnon Nampha said at a candlelight rally in downtown Bangkok by about 200 people who defied coronavirus regulations to attend.

BANGKOK (AP) — Six months after seizing power from the elected government, Myanmar’s military leader on Sunday declared himself prime minister and said he would lead the country under the extended state of emergency until elections are held in about two years.

“We must create conditions to hold a free and fair multiparty general election,” Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said during a recorded televised address. “We have to make preparations. I pledge to hold the multiparty general election without fail.”

BANGKOK (AP) — With coronavirus deaths rising in Myanmar, allegations are growing from residents and human rights activists that the military government, which seized control in February, is using the pandemic to consolidate power and crush opposition.

In the last week, the per capita death rate in Myanmar surpassed those of Indonesia and Malaysia to become the worst in Southeast Asia. The country’s crippled health care system has rapidly become overwhelmed with new patients sick with COVID-19.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Health authorities in Thailand raced to set up a large field hospital in a cargo building at one of Bangkok’s airports on Thursday as the country reported record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths.

Other field hospitals are already in use in the capital after it ran out of hospital facilities for thousands of infected residents.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — As Thailand‘s medical system struggles beneath a surge of coronavirus cases, ordinary people are helping to plug the gaps, risking their own health to bring care and supplies to often terrified, exhausted patients who’ve fallen through the cracks.

In the Samai area of Bangkok, Ekapob Laungprasert’s team heads out for another weekend on the front lines of a crisis.