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The images share striking similarities. Thousands raise their hands in the air to demand political change. Young protesters with glasses and helmets. Umbrellas passing through the crowd to the front line. Crowds part like the Red Sea to let an ambulance pass.
Over the weekend, when tens of thousands of people in Thailand defied the ban on gathering and came out to protest in Bangkok and across the country, Hong Kong residents responded with messages of support. On the median of a road that used to display Hong Kong protest graffiti, a freshly spray-painted slogan appeared calling people to #StandWithTailand. Elsewhere, activists set up a street stall and delivered speeches urging Hong Kong people to support Thailand. And today, activists like Joshua Wong held a protest in front of the Thai consulate, raising the three-finger salute of the Thai protests in a show of solidarity and rephrasing a popular protest slogan in Hong Kong: “Fight for freedom, support! Thailand! Free Thailand, Democracy Now! “
“These images and scenes are quite similar to what happened in Hong Kong in recent years, and we have empathy with people … who are still fighting for freedom,” said Ted Hui, a pro-democracy lawmaker, referring to photos of Thai police in riot gear suppressing protests with batons and water cannons.
The protests in Thailand began over the summer, initially calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, the former leader of the junta who oversaw the writing of Thailand’s current constitution, and he remained in power after last year’s elections. . The demands have been expanded to include calls for a new constitution and reforms to the monarchy, including harsh lese majesty laws that make even mild criticism of the monarchy a crime. They face an uphill battle against laws that critics say seriously undermine freedom of speech, press and assembly.
Solidarity between Hong Kong and Thai protesters has also been brewing for months. Dubbed the Milk Tea Alliance, it began earlier this year, sparked by the wandering “like” of a Thai actor in a tweet that referred to Hong Kong as a country, naturally altering Chinese nationalist sensibilities. A torrent of virtual confusion ensued, as Thai netizens, with the help of their Taiwanese and Hong Kong counterparts, took on Chinese internet trolls. Using a mix of tongue-in-cheek humor, witty memes, and the #MilkTeaAlliance hashtag, they have since constantly been building a grassroots social media campaign to tackle Chinese internet users and bots that often flood platforms with pro-Beijing posts. .
The link between the Thai and Hong Kong protesters also dates back to 2016. Wong was invited that year to speak with Thai students, but was denied entry and detained at the Bangkok airport for 12 hours.
“That event was registered with great force for the student leaders of Hong Kong and also for Thailand,” said Sarinee Achavanuntakul, a prominent Thai writer and social critic. “Joshua Wong himself experienced Thai censorship and the machinations of the Thai military government … they take a lot out of the Chinese government’s playbook.”
The online #MilkTeaAlliance coalition is now increasingly spreading into the physical world of protests.
Over the weekend, Thai protesters actively adopted proven tactics from Hong Kong protesters. To stay one step ahead of the police, they resorted to Hong Kong’s “be water” tactic of fluid protests. As in Hong Kong, some Thai protesters assumed the role of “avant-garde”, Volunteer to be closer to the police so others can get to safety in the event of clashes. A Thai protest group, Free Youth, posted an online message asking people to “get your megaphones ready and put on your protective gear, because everyone is a leader,” echoing Hong Kong’s leaderless movement.
“For weeks and weeks, even months, a lot of infographics have been shared among Thai protesters here, almost bracing themselves for this moment,” said James Buchanan, a doctoral candidate who studies social movements in Thailand. “Protest tactics, protest equipment, information on how to deal with tear gas, and much of the information came from Hong Kong.”
It is not the first time that a protest movement has borrowed from Hong Kong. Last October, protests in Catalonia in support of jailed pro-independence leaders similarly adopted “being water” techniques of fluid meetings, including occupying the airport just as Hong Kong residents had done months earlier.
Now a new “protest exchange” tactic appears to be emerging, Buchanan said. Protesters in Hong Kong and Thailand are promoting each other’s causes, like when the Thai protesters yesterday singing “Hong Kong is a country, independence for them.”
On Hong Kong’s LIHKG forum, popular with protesters, a widely read thread (link in Chinese) suggested that Hong Kong protesters should share Thai protest messages to help protesters there evade lese majesty’s restrictions, while Thai protesters should share protest material from Hong Kong as a way to get around the broad national security law imposed in June.
In a new era of protest movements broadcast live around the world, offering activists the opportunity to find global allies for local struggles against authoritarianism, alliances forged on social media and the exchange of protests could become defining characteristics of a new type of popular resistance without borders.
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