Thailand's prime minister lifts emergency measures

Prayuth Chan-ocha seeks to end conflict but protesters give him deadline to resign

Thailand's prime minister has lifted severe emergency measures imposed last week to halt months of pro-democracy protests that instead sparked even bigger, nationwide rallies against his government and the monarchy.

Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army general who first came to power in the 2014 coup, said on Wednesday he was moving to de-escalate the situation, adding that the country must now step back from the edge of the slippery slope that can easily slide to chaos".