Anti-government rally ends peacefully in Bangkok

Pro-democracy activists in Thailand staged a fourth straight day of high-profile protests in the capital on Saturday, thwarting efforts by the authorities to stop them, including a shutdown of the city's mass transit systems. Unlike protests a day earlier, which saw police using water cannons to keep the protesters at bay, Saturday's demonstrations were peaceful, with no reports of any clashes by the time participants started heading home in the evening.

The protesters are calling for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to leave office, the constitution to be amended to make it more democratic and the nation's monarchy to undergo reform. All stations of Bangkok's elevated Skytrain transit system were closed on Saturday afternoon to try to keep protesters from gathering. The underground MRT system was also shut, and police blocked off several roads.

Protesters met anyway and marched or took taxis to several rally points spread through the city, where several thousand eventually gathered in each spot to voice their demands and chant against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Protesters began dispersing at 8 p.m., the time organizers had said the protests would end.

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