Thai students protested in front of a university as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited on March 17.

The demonstrators stood near the entrance of the Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand while carrying banners that said 'Why did you come here?' while a blockade of police faced off against them.

Controversial career soldier Chan-o-cha and other top military officials - who seized power in 2014 with a coup - were scheduled for a visit to the Kruba Srivichai Monument on Doi Suthep mountain.

Local media reported that police allegedly disrupted the protest by blocking the banners using police vans and white cloth to keep the PM from seeing them.

A protester had given Chan-o-cha a bouquet of wilted flowers on the same day criticising the government's alleged mismanagement of the country's affairs.

The PM's visit to the province comes ahead of the expected general elections on May 7.