<p>Thousands rallied in Bangkok behind the popular leader of an upstart anti-establishment party on Saturday, in the first major protest since March elections returned the military junta to power.</p>.<p>Protesters held signs calling for democracy and flashed a three-finger salute, a rallying symbol used by the Future Forward Party that got more than six million votes in the election, thanks to mostly young Thais weary of the military's role in politics.</p>.<p>The party's popular billionaire leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit called for those who could "no longer tolerate the current social conditions" under the junta regime to come out in a flash mob demonstration.</p>.<p>"We want to show the power of the people who will not surrender," he shouted in a megaphone to gathered supporters.</p>.<p>"Today we stand together and we want to tell them that we are not afraid," he yelled to people chanting "long live democracy".</p>.<p>Police told AFP Saturday that roughly 150 "unarmed" officers would be deployed to Bangkok's tourist-friendly downtown shopping district for the rally.</p>.<p>"I don't think we have a real democracy," said 27-year-old Nithiwadee, who held a sign calling for the constitution to be amended.</p>.<p>"This party has the bravery to say what others do not," she added.</p>.<p>Under junta rule which followed a coup in 2014, there have been no massive rallies, and March's elections -- governed under a military-scripted constitution -- reinstated junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha as prime minister.</p>.<p>Future Forward's popularity has rattled the military and its allies, and its executives have been battered by legal woes since the election.</p>.<p>The latest threatens the party with dissolution over alleged illegal loans from Thanathorn -- a case submitted Friday to a court that stripped his MP status last month.</p>.<p>The 41-year-old leader has repeatedly said the cases against him and FFP are politically motivated.</p>.<p>Thailand's political scene has been dominated by violence since 2006, with street protests devolving into blood-soaked disorder.</p>.<p>In 2010, the military led by then-army chief Prayut -- opened fire on protesters gathered in downtown Bangkok, killing more than 90.</p>.<p>Thailand's courts have played a central role in taking out political threats to the establishment and no civilian government has completed its term since 2006.</p>.<p>The country has seen more than a dozen coups since 1932.</p>
<p>Thousands rallied in Bangkok behind the popular leader of an upstart anti-establishment party on Saturday, in the first major protest since March elections returned the military junta to power.</p>.<p>Protesters held signs calling for democracy and flashed a three-finger salute, a rallying symbol used by the Future Forward Party that got more than six million votes in the election, thanks to mostly young Thais weary of the military's role in politics.</p>.<p>The party's popular billionaire leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit called for those who could "no longer tolerate the current social conditions" under the junta regime to come out in a flash mob demonstration.</p>.<p>"We want to show the power of the people who will not surrender," he shouted in a megaphone to gathered supporters.</p>.<p>"Today we stand together and we want to tell them that we are not afraid," he yelled to people chanting "long live democracy".</p>.<p>Police told AFP Saturday that roughly 150 "unarmed" officers would be deployed to Bangkok's tourist-friendly downtown shopping district for the rally.</p>.<p>"I don't think we have a real democracy," said 27-year-old Nithiwadee, who held a sign calling for the constitution to be amended.</p>.<p>"This party has the bravery to say what others do not," she added.</p>.<p>Under junta rule which followed a coup in 2014, there have been no massive rallies, and March's elections -- governed under a military-scripted constitution -- reinstated junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha as prime minister.</p>.<p>Future Forward's popularity has rattled the military and its allies, and its executives have been battered by legal woes since the election.</p>.<p>The latest threatens the party with dissolution over alleged illegal loans from Thanathorn -- a case submitted Friday to a court that stripped his MP status last month.</p>.<p>The 41-year-old leader has repeatedly said the cases against him and FFP are politically motivated.</p>.<p>Thailand's political scene has been dominated by violence since 2006, with street protests devolving into blood-soaked disorder.</p>.<p>In 2010, the military led by then-army chief Prayut -- opened fire on protesters gathered in downtown Bangkok, killing more than 90.</p>.<p>Thailand's courts have played a central role in taking out political threats to the establishment and no civilian government has completed its term since 2006.</p>.<p>The country has seen more than a dozen coups since 1932.</p>