Thai coup critics stage rally

Several opponents of Thailand's military-installed government marched in Bangkok's streets to army headquarters in their most defiant protest yet against the regime that came to power after a coup last year.

Approximately protesters gathered on Saturday evening at Sanam Luang, an open field traditionally used for political protests, said Metropolitan Police Colonel Manit Wongsomboon. Part of the crowd then marched several kilometers to the military's headquarters.

No violence was reported.

Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the military council that helps run the country, said about 3,000 protesters gathered in front of the army headquarters late on Saturday.

"They were using very foul language on the stage, but the authorities are using utmost patience to deal with their provocations," Sansern said.

Most in the crowd appeared to be supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a bloodless Sept. 19 coup.

The leaders of Saturday night's protest were former executives of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party, now legally disbanded. But several groups, including former opponents of Thaksin's sometimes autocratic rule, have also been mobilizing against the military and the interim government that it installed.

One the protest leaders, Jakrapob Penkair -- a former executive of Thaksin's party and government spokesman -- said the protesters would be back at army headquarters in a week if their three demands were not met.

The demonstrators want a lifting of martial law, which was imposed during the coup and is still in effect for much of the country. They also demand a reinstatement without revisions of the 1997 constitution, which was scrapped by the coup makers.

The Council for National Security, a military body that is the power behind the interim government, must also relinquish its control, the protesters say.

Earlier Saturday, the commander of the army, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin -- who led last year's coup -- said the situation remained under control.