Thai student protesters billing themselves as the "last group standing" in seeking to end military rule said Monday they would openly defy what one leader called a tyrannical regime nine months after the army seized power.
Members of the Thai Student Center for Democracy (TSCD), who come from different political and socioeconomic backgrounds, present a quandary for the junta, which has branded public protests illegal but wants to maintain its core support, including from Bangkok's middle class and business elite.
Some of the students support the Red Shirt grass-roots movement of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, but others sympathize with the establishment that makes up the bulk of the junta's support.