Thai protesters scale monument, renew calls for royal reforms | Thailand News

Protesters demanding release of activists held under laws forbidding insult to king briefly clash with police after draping Bangkok’s Democracy Monument in red cloth.

Pro-democracy activists in Thailand have scaled a massive monument in the capital, Bangkok, draping it in crimson cloth and calling for an end to the kingdom’s draconian royal defamation laws.

The protesters on Saturday threw paint at police and several small bangs were heard during a standoff near a city shrine after the demonstration had moved from the Democracy Monument and the main leaders had called for it to disperse. Activists said the red cloth on the monument in Bangkok’s historic quarter represented the blood of fighters for democracy.

Police deputy spokesman Kissana Pattanacharoen said more than 20 police officers were injured in the clashes and seven or eight people were detained for questioning. He…