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Thai Protesters Vow Weekend of Rallies as Coup Rumors Swirl

VOA News

   Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators flooded a Bangkok intersection
   late Friday, vowing to resist any attempts at a coup amid rumors of a
   coming military intervention to break a deadlock between the vibrant
   reform movement and a stubborn royalist government.

   Thailand has had 13 coups since a 1932 revolution established a
   constitutional monarchy, led by an army which refuses to leave the
   political stage - or allow full democracy to take root - and whose
   actions are endorsed by a palace which is at the pinnacle of power.

   The last coup, in 2014, was led by Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, the then army
   chief who transformed into a civilian premier after elections last year
   under rules heavily favoring the military-aligned party he leads.

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