Staff at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) were given the day off on Wednesday in mourning for the five people killed during the police operation to reclaim Phan Fah Bridge on Tuesday.
BMA spokeswoman Three-dao Aphaiwong said the administrative team taking business leave on Wednesday include the Bangkok governor’s deputies, the BMA chairman, the governor's consulting team and the assistant to the governor’s secretary.
Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra will carry on working to avoid being accused of neglecting his duties during the political crisis in the capital.
Ms Threedao said the BMA team will review its work on a daily basis to consider what action must be taken for the benefit and safety of the public.
She said the BMA is of the opinion that the right to demonstrate is permitted by the constitution. The Constitution Court had already ruled to support that right therefore efforts to clear protest sites by the caretaker government were against the rule of law, she said.
The Phan Fah Bridge clash on Tuesday resulted in the death of four civilians and one policeman and left 70 other people injured, 32 of them still in hospital according to the city's Erawan emergency centre.