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Pro-democracy protests in front of the seat of government in Bangkok (photo taken on Wednesday)
Photo: Sakchai Lalit / AP
Citizens in Thailand have been demonstrating against the government since July. Most recently, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha tried to suppress the protests with a state of emergency.
Now he has withdrawn the measure after only a week.
The decree banned gatherings of more than four people.
The measure will be lifted on Thursday at 12 noon (local time), it said in a government statement.
Despite the ban on gatherings, thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets every day in the capital Bangkok to demand Prayut's resignation.
The government apparently hopes to contain the protests by lifting the ban on gatherings.
"The violent situation that necessitated the imposition of the state of emergency has eased and is over," the statement said.
From now on, the authorities could implement the laws normally again.
According to the Reuters news agency, Queen Suthida's mockery of a convoy was officially cited as the reason for the ban on meetings.
The head of government declared a state of emergency last Thursday, and the next day the police used water cannons against the mostly young demonstrators.
Despite the actions of the government and the security forces, the wave of protests that had lasted since July did not die down.
Surprisingly, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who lives most of the time in Bavaria, also showed up in Bangkok last week.
Activists face life imprisonment
The pro-democracy protest movement calls for the government to resign and for an open debate on the role of the monarchy in Thailand.
The arrests of activists of the democracy movement also caused outrage.
Some of them face life imprisonment under a law that has not been applied for decades.
Thailand has a history of conflict, with over a dozen military coups in the past twelve years.
After the most recent coup in 2014 and a parliamentary election overshadowed by allegations of fraud, ex-army chief Prayut became the new prime minister.
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fek / AFP / Reuters / AP
