Protests in Thailand escalated on Wednesday as the royalist-controlled junta ordered the winner of the country's recent sham election to be banned from politics.

Footage shows the demonstrators climbing onto the Democracy Monument in the capital Bangkok to unfurl banners with slogans criticising the ruling establishment.

It came as Harvard-educated Pita Limjaroenrat - the first ever Thai awarded a scholarship to the prestigious U.S. school - won a national poll on May 15 but was blocked for a second time from becoming Prime Minster today due to him posing a 'threat to national security' over plans to drag the country's benighted social system into the 21st century.

Military-controlled courts also ordered the former executive director of NASDAQ-listed ride-hailing app Grab to be suspended from politics while they investigate probate shares in an inactive media company held by his late father.

The North Korea-style move to banish the leader of the hugely popular Move Forward Party was launched when Pita vowed to stick to his pledge to legalise criticism of Thailand's controversial monarchy, which is the richest royal family in the world following years of draining the public purse and widespread indoctrination of the populace.

Researchers claimed that in 2021, the Thai monarchy received a budget of 1.09 Billion USD - more than 10 times the amount received by the British Royal Family.