A defining moment in Thailand's growing protest movement started with the unannounced arrival of a champagne-colored Rolls Royce stretch limousine on a Bangkok street.
When Queen Suthida's motorcade slowed as it encountered a few dozen protesters jeering outside Bangkok's Government House on Oct. 14, royalists denounced it as unforgivable harassment in a kingdom whose constitution demands reverence for the monarchy.
The government, led by a former army chief who was the initial target of months of protests, responded swiftly.