MORE than 1,000 troops and police sealed off one of the busiest intersections in Thai capital Bangkok today to prevent a planned democracy protest.

Lorryloads of soldiers blocked all incoming roads to the capital’s Victory Monument at the height of evening rush hour in an area that serves as one of the city’s commuter bus hubs.

More than a dozen police meat wagons were parked along the emptied roundabout, but there was little sign of protesters who had come out almost daily to defy a ban on political gatherings.

Anti-coup demonstrations have called for a mass rally on Sunday.

General Somyot Poompanmoung, the deputy national police chief, said that the protests would no longer be allowed, confirming that about 1,350 soldiers and police were deployed in yesterday’s operation.

“We know their rally is mainly for symbolic reasons, but it’s against the law. We have to keep the law sacred,” he said.