A week-long protest against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra intensified Saturday, leaving at least one dead and others injured from gunfire in Bangkok’s streets.
Demonstrators are opposing a recent effort by Yingluck’s party that would allow the return on his brother and former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who is currently living in Dubai after being ousted by a military coup on 2006, the Associated Press reports. Yingluck’s party has electoral support from the country’s rural and populist majority, and protestors are comprised mostly of more educated Thais hoping to change the electoral system.
Violence broke out in a 50,000-strong crowd, where Red Shirts were rallying in support of the government. A 21-year-old man was shot dead, and nearly a dozen others suffered injuries as well. It was not immediately clear who opened fire.
Thai officials said the military plans to send 2,730 personnel to the nation’s capital Sunday to ramp up security efforts. Meanwhile, protestors have vowed to overtake the prime minister’s office.
[AP]