According to the Bangkok Post and other media reports, the Thai government has announced the lifting of the state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok, effective from noon local time on the 22nd.
As previously reported, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Bayu said that the government side and the local protest groups in Bangkok should each take a step back to de-escalate the situation. He said in a televised speech on the night of the 21st that he would make the first step to de-escalate the conflict by lifting the state of emergency in Bangkok. “I ask the protesters to reciprocate with sincerity and reduce the words that incite hatred and divisiveness.” As the leader of the government, Bayu said he would be responsible for mediating conflicting perceptions so that all people in the country could live together peacefully.
Thai anti-government protesters broke through police barriers and marched to the Prime Minister’s Office in the evening of the 14th and set up camp on the road outside the Prime Minister’s Office. Demonstration leaders said they would be stationed here overnight. On the same day, a large number of supporters of the constitutional monarchy also held a rally near the Democracy Monument in Bangkok to express their love for the royal family and their determination to preserve the constitutional monarchy. Bayu said at the time that he was not worried about the rally, but did not want violence and hoped that all sides would seek a common future through rational dialogue.
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