Police have vowed to take swift legal action against anti-government protest leaders responsible for organising the rally outside parliament on Tuesday which descended into violence and left at least 51 people injured.
The threat was conveyed by Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) deputy commissioner, Piya Tawichai, to the media at a press conference detailing the police's security operation during Tuesday's protest.
According to Pol Maj Gen Piya, while four groups of protesters converged outside parliament, only three groups had the police's permission to hold a demonstration.
"Those who came to rally without obtaining prior permission were deemed to have assembled illegally," he said.
At about 1pm on Tuesday, yellow-shirted protesters -- which had secured permission to demonstrate, marched on Thahan Road. About an hour after that, a group of anti-government protesters under the "People's Party" banner broke barriers on nearby Sam Sen Road, forcing the police to react to maintain order, he said.
Bangkok police chief Phukphong Phongpetra supervised the police's crowd containment operation to make sure that it complied with the law and international standards on the handing of mass assemblies, Pol Maj Gen Piya said.
At 5.10pm on Tuesday, the People's Party protesters tore down barriers at Kiakkai intersection and tried to remove barriers and barbed wire set across Thahan Road. Anti-government protesters and the yellow-shirts threw objects at each other for around five minutes before police officers arrived and set up a metal fence to separate them, he said.
The deputy MPB commissioner also insisted that police did not use rubber bullets or live rounds on the protesters, as alleged by some anti-government protesters.
At 8.15pm, a skirmish broke out near Thahan Road -- about 300 metres away from where an anti-government protester and a yellow-shirt supporter were shot, police said.
At the press conference, Pol Maj Gen Piya admitted that police were unable to thoroughly maintain order at the protest site. However, he said, they tried their best to keep the two groups apart.
"[Police] officers finally retreated as their operations came under increasing pressure," he said.
According to the police, three water cannon trucks, a 10-wheeler truck, two water trucks and a prisoner transport vehicle were damaged by the protesters.
Police also said forensic investigators found several bullets near Kiakkai intersection, as well as several bullet holes in nearby trees and in the road surface -- indicating at least several people were carrying firearms at the protest.
A royalist protester, identified as Kasidit Muktanant, 35, was arrested by soldiers for carrying a gun at the protest site on Tuesday.
