Thailand’s martial law will not be lifted for the foreseeable future, the justice minister said on Friday, despite an earlier pledge to lift the law in some provinces to help the tourism industry which has struggled since a military coup in May.
The announcement comes as Thailand prepares to enter its peak tourism season, over the Christmas and New Year period, according to Reuters.
The army imposed martial law nationwide in May, days before it took power in a coup that it said was necessary to end months of street demonstrations aimed at ousting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
“Martial law is necessary and we cannot lift it because the government and junta need it as the army’s tool,” Thai Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya told Reuters.
All political protests are banned under the law, but that has not stopped some university students from staging protests against the junta this week by flashing a three-finger salute, a gesture adopted from The Hunger Games films.
