Protests in Thailand enter the fifth day

Thailand is in protest mode -- and students are leading this fight.

Thailand's pro-democracy protesters are a feisty lot, and nothing is seeming to discourage them -- not water cannons, not riot cops and not even rain.

After five nights of relentless protests, the government seems to be budging. A little bit though.

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Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha wants talks. But he has made one thing very clear -- the monarchy is not up for discussion.

Last week's crackdown has not dented the spirits of the students whose agitation entered a fifth day on Monday.

As many as 10,000 people gathered near Bangkok's victory monument. They were all clad in colourful ponchos.

They chanted 'Down with dictatorship', and reform the monarchy.

A 25-year-old protester, to this end, said, "I want to be part of the fight to call for a democracy. This is our time. Everybody's out and we shouldn't be afraid of anything. We're all protesting peacefully and orderly, there's no chaos. Any violence that happened was started by the government."

Despite the urgency of the protests, a couple of things stood out.

Almost everyone was wearing a mask. And on two separate occasions, the protesters cleared the road for approaching ambulances.

Also, an alliance of shared experiences is emerging between Thailand and Hong Kong -- massive street protests, an autocratic regime, and a brutal police response.

On Monday, a group of pro-democracy activists gathered at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong. Among them was the umbrella movement leader Joshua Wong.

Their message was simple -- "Hong Kong stands with Thailand".

But unlike last week, the government response in Bangkok was measured.

There was no riot police, no water cannons, and no crackdown.

Meanwhile, the prime minister has recalled the parliament to thrash out a plan. But despite these mass protests, the monarchy remains beyond reproach.

"What the government needs to do is to protect the monarchy -- this is every Thai's duty to do. We're asking you guys to do just very few things," the prime minister said, adding, "you can see the government is trying its best to compromise. We're asking so very few things -- don't do anything wrong, don't damage government property or any people's properties."

The king himself was not in Bangkok -- he was in Thailand's Northeast -- giving away diplomas to university students.

And this is how the irony unfolds -- on one hand, a paternal monarch attends a graduation ceremony, and on the other, he unleashes water cannons on student protesters seeking to undermine their demands.