Thailand: Bangkok protesters decry IMF and World Bank, warn of destructive capitalism

Hundreds of protesters marched through Bangkok on Thursday, 15 October, in opposition to the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank being held in the Thai capital.

Demonstrators carried banners, wore masks depicting world leaders and pulled giant floats, including a piggy bank and an octopus symbolising global capitalism. They accused the financial institutions of making decisions that affect local communities without giving residents a meaningful say.

Police blocked the march near the meeting venue, while brief scuffles broke out as protesters tried to hang a banner from a pedestrian bridge.

Protesters from across Thailand gathered to voice their concerns, rejecting the official forum as a platform where ordinary people would have little influence. They used a giant octopus to symbolise powerful economic interests tightening their grip on local communities and their resources.

The march briefly disrupted traffic at a busy intersection, but protesters eventually managed to display their banner calling for an end to destructive capitalism.