Police arrested an Education Ministry employee on Friday for spraying paint on an army vehicle during an anti-coup rally on Wednesday.
Soldiers arrive at Victory Monument to block a possible rally against the coup on Friday. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpunmuang said Punmanee Chuchao was seized at the ministry on an arrest warrant issued by the Bangkok military court for defying a ban on political gatherings and for damaging state property.
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has banned gatherings of more than five people for political purposes.
Authorities said Ms Punmanee confessed that she joined the rally at Victory Monument and became angry after soldiers arrested a protester.
She sprayed white paint on the windshield of a Humvee without realising that she could face a serious charge, they said.
The arrest followed a complaint lodged to the Phaya Thai police station by Col Sombat Thannawan, chief of the Cavalry School in Saraburi, who was in charge of curbing the rally on Wednesday.
Victory Monument had been a landmark for protests against the coup until Thursday and Friday when the coup makers deployed large numbers of soldiers and police officers to block protests. They closed all roads to the monument for two hours until 6pm on Friday.
Ms Punmanee would face trial in a military court, Pol Gen Somyot said.