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For weeks, young people in Thailand have been out on the streets, even today. Neither the ban on meetings nor the fear of police violence deterred protesters. He is calling for democratic reforms.
In Thailand, thousands of critics of the government took to the streets again, despite a ban on meetings. The media reports on more than 20,000 participants. In the capital Bangkok, they called for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The organizers did not announce the places of the protests until one hour in advance, in order to avoid cordoning off by the authorities. On the posters of the mostly young protesters, there were slogans such as: “You cannot kill us, we are everywhere” and “Stop hurting people.” Several wore helmets and gas masks.
Despite all the fears, without incident
One of the movement’s organizing groups had asked the protesters to prepare “physically and mentally” for the protests and to expect reprisals from the police. According to his information, the protest was uneventful and the officials did not intervene.
Police used water cannons against protesters on Friday after Prime Minister Prayut declared a state of emergency the day before. This prohibited gatherings of more than four people.
Mass protests for months
There have been mass demonstrations in the Southeast Asian country for months. The pro-democracy protest movement wants to achieve new elections and comprehensive reforms. He also calls for an open debate on the role of the monarchy. That was a taboo there for a long time: lese majesty could result in jail time. King Maha Vajiralongkorn is currently in Bangkok, but lives most of the time in Bavaria.
The arrests of democracy activists also caused outrage. Some of them face life in prison under a law that hasn’t been enforced for decades.
There have been several military coups in Thailand in the recent past, the most recent of which took place in 2014. In a parliamentary election overshadowed by allegations of fraud last year, former army chief Prayut was victorious.
