Police arrested several anti-junta activists Friday for small protests marking a year since Thailand's generals seized power from the elected government, as the coup's leader said the country "may have collapsed" without his intervention.
The sporadic but rare acts of defiance against Thailand's generals came as self-exiled and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- who sits at the heart of the kingdom's bitter political divide -- gave an interview overseas saying he was happy to bide his time to make his comeback.
There were scuffles between a handful of student protesters and police in downtown Bangkok on Friday evening as anti-coup demonstrators tried to chain themselves together outside a popular mall.
An AFP reporter on the scene saw at least four activists carried away by police.
Earlier there were at least four arrests as die-hard campaigners called 'Resistant Citizen', who have repeatedly defied the junta's ban on political protests, were prevented from marching to a court in Bangkok to file treason charges against junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
Seven students were also wrestled to the ground and detained for holding an anti-coup banner in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen, a bastion of support for Thaksin and his sister Yingluck, whose government was toppled by the May 22, 2014 coup.
She now faces up to 10 years in jail over criminal negligence charges linked to a costly subsidy scheme to her rice farming support base.
The junta says its power grab restored order after months of protests against Yingluck left dozens dead and the economy in a straitjacket, a view roundly defended by former army chief-turned prime minister Prayut on Friday.
"I did it (the coup) myself because I thought that both the country and the people were in severe danger... I made up my mind alone," he told reporters.
"If I didn't do it I wonder if our country may already have collapsed," he said.
Although so-called "Red Shirt" supporters of former premier Thaksin largely ignored the anniversary of the coup, he marked the day by coolly asserting he would wait for the right moment to re-enter Thai politics.
"I'm just waiting here. I'm in no hurry. I'm just keeping myself fit," he told CNN in a rare interview.
"That's all I need. Being patient. I can wait. Time will come," he added.
Thaksin, who was also ousted in a coup in 2006, has repeatedly told supporters to stay off the streets.
His sister was dumped out of office by a court ruling two weeks before the coup. Martial law was imposed two days before the coup by the military.
Her supporters say the putsch was the latest assault by the royalist Bangkok-centric elite on the kingdom's burgeoning democratic forces -- in particular from the culturally distinct northeast, which has voted Shinawatra parties to power in every election since 2001.
In the past year, protests have been smothered, dissenters arrested and anti-coup radio and television stations shut, while royal defamation cases have surged as rights groups say the space to speak freely diminishes.
The junta insists it will reboot the kingdom's economy and rewrite the country's constitution to end Thailand's deep political divisions and expunge corruption.
Fresh elections were pencilled in for early-mid 2016 but Prayut said that timetable may slip if a referendum is held on the charter many see as a barely concealed attempt to pare back the Shinawatras' political dominance.
Meanwhile Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar was one of few Thaksin supporters to speak out Friday, in a Facebook post that condemned Prayut's year in power and accused the junta of "putting duct tape on top of a fresh wound without applying any medicine".
In Isaan, the northeastern heartlands of the Shinawatras, soldiers in Humvees still conduct patrols into remote Red Shirt villages, locals told AFP.
"Soldiers are very strict. There is nothing to gain from any movements. It's better to wait," a senior Red Shirt leader in the northeast told AFP, requesting anonymity after he was forced to sign an agreement with the military not to speak about politics.
"Everyone (the Red Shirts) is waiting for the election... I hope the army are gentlemanly enough not to break their promise to hold it."
The junta has seen its support eroded even among its early political supporters, but still enjoys widespread popularity with the Bangkok elite and royalist southerners.
But analysts say the economy remains the military's weak point with growth failing to take off despite the centralisation of powers.
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