Opponents of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday urged him to stop using the monarchy to justify his hold on power and resign, in remarks made to a special session of parliament called by the former junta leader to discuss months of protests. 

Student-led demonstrations which initially demanded the departure of Prayuth and a new constitution have increasingly turned their attention to the monarchy, calling for reforms to curb the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

"The prime minister is a major obstacle and burden to the country. Please resign and everything will end well," said Sompong Amornvivat, leader of the opposition Pheu Thai party, the largest single party in parliament.

Members of the opposition Move Forward party accused Prayuth of trying to use the monarchy to keep power - particularly regarding an incident around a royal motorcade that was used to justify tough emergency measures on Oct. 15.

Prayuth called the parliament session this week after the emergency measures - including a ban on protests - only inflamed anger and brought tens of thousands onto Bangkok streets.

He rejected a demand from protesters to step down and said last week it was his government's job to protect the monarchy.

"Im confident that today, regardless of our different political views, everyone still loves the country," Prayuth said in his opening address.

"Though the people have the freedom to protest based on the constitution, authorities need to control the illegal protests," said Prayut. "We do not want to see clashes or riots in the country," he said, accusing some protesters of "inappropriate actions".

But his opponents and protest leaders are sceptical the parliamentary session will resolve the crisis. His supporters have a majority in parliament, whose entire upper house was picked by his former junta.

Opposition MPs questioned Prayuth's reasons for emergency measures, especially the justification for a fracas around Queen Suthida's motorcade on Oct. 14, when she was jeered by protesters.

"There was an attempt to use the royal motorcade to distort the truth and make people hate and confront each other," said Move Forward MP Suttawan Suban Na Ayuthaya. "Dont bring the monarchy into this conflict."

Protesters are set to march to the German embassy at 5 pm to petition Berlin to investigate the king's use of his powers while in the European nation, where he spends much of his time. The German government has said it would be unacceptable for him to conduct politics from Germany.