Anti-coup protesters gather in Bangkok

BANGKOK, June 1 (TNA) - a mall in central Bangkok was forced to close its business on Sunday after anti-coup protesters had showed up there. Dozens of protesters gathered at Terminal 21 shopping mall near Asoke intersection at about noon, displaying anti-May 22 coup placards and raising three fingers, a symbolic of freedom, to show their opposition to the coup. Some entered the mall to stage their protest. Policemen and soldiers were dispatched to the mall to control the situation. They ordered all shoppers and the media to leave the mall and ordered it to close at 1pm. The protesters then moved to a skywalk near the Asoke BTS station. In another development, ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra posted a message on her Facebook page, thanking her supporters for their support. It was the Ex-premier first Facebook message after the military took control of the country on May 22. On May 7, the Constitutional Court dismissed her as caretaker prime minister after ruling that she had abused her power in transferring then National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri to an inactive post in 2011. The Court ruled unanimously that Yingluck's order to transfer Thawil was done in an unlawful manner and demonstrated a conflict of interest and violation of the Constitution. (TNA)