A student was hanged from a 30ft high walkway during an anti-government protest in Thailand this afternoon September 6.

The teenage girl in a university uniform was covered in fake blood and strapped from her back to the rails of the BTS Sky Train platform at the Asoke intersection in Bangkok. She stayed suspended in the air for several minutes – symbolising those who have died during the Covid-19 pandemic – before being hauled to safety.

Opponents of the regime have politicised Covid-19 deaths to criticise the government, claiming that the country should be paying for more of the expensive mRNA vaccines from America instead of the AstraZeneca shots being widely administered, which are produced under license in Thailand.

Protesters converged at the Asoke junction in the centre of the Thai capital across the road from red-light strip Soi Cowboy where they voiced their anger at the establishment during the latest rally.

Many were wearing red shirts, which were adopted as a political movement following the ousting of former Man City owner Thaksin Shinawatra as Thai Prime Minister in 2006. They were also making the three-finger salute from the Hunger Games, which activists have taken as a symbol of their movement.

Organisers said demonstrations would take place across the city every evening ‘until the prime minister resigns’.

Leader Sombat Boonngam-anong said: ‘We will rally from September 2 onwards until Prayut resigns.’

Thailand’s protest movement erupted last year and stopped briefly at the height of the pandemic fear but has started again in recent weeks.

Organisers claim they are protesting peacefully for democratic reforms but demonstrations have regularly descended into violence, vandalism, attacks on police and chaos.

Government officials say the unrest is being funded by disaffected opposition, exiled politicians and extremist groups who encourage students to join the protests. They have cited evidence that social media bots are being used to provoke civil disobedience among impressionable youth – who could then face years in prison for getting involved with the anti-establishment rallies.

Officials have banned gatherings of more than five people and rolled out a 9pm curfew due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the laws have been ignored by the demonstrators.