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Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha imposed a severe “state of emergency” in Bangkok, the country’s capital and the center of major protests against the Thai government and monarchy. The “state of emergency”, adopted to stop the demonstrations, has now entered into force and was used by the police on Thursday to arrest more than 20 people, including prominent protest leaders. Among other things, it provides for the prohibition of meetings for more than four people and the publication of news that “may create fear” or “affect national security.” The restrictions introduced are in addition to those provided for by another “state of emergency”, already in force throughout the country to contain the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Riot police in Bangkok on October 15 (Lauren DeCicca / Getty Images)
The protests began last January when a Thai court decided to ban the New Future Party (Phak Anakhot Mai), a popular opposition movement among young people. The coronavirus epidemic had disrupted the demonstrations, which then began to grow again.
In June, protests resumed following the disappearance of a Thai activist in exile, Wanchalearm Satsaksit, in Cambodia. Since then they had expanded: today the protesters are calling, in short, for the government led by General Prayuth Chan-o-cha to be dissolved, in power since the 2014 coup, for the violence against the activists to cease and rewrite the Constitution, issued by the military government.
– Read also: Women’s rights in Thai protests
Among those arrested Thursday morning were Anon Nampa, a human rights lawyer and the first person to speak publicly about the need to reform the monarchy; Parit Chiwarak, student and activist, well known in Thailand with the nickname “penguin”; and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, a leader best known for having presented a ten-point manifesto calling, like Anon, for a reform of the monarchical institution.
Anti-government rally in Bangkok on October 14 (Lauren DeCicca / Getty Images)
The ongoing pro-democracy protests in Thailand are led mainly by students, although the protesters include several former supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister deposed in a 2006 coup. The students are protesting, among other things, irregularities in the controversial last year’s vote that led to the election of Prayuth as prime minister.
Starting in August, also at the urging of Anon and Panusaya, the protesters began to demand a reform of the monarchy: something quite unusual for a country where the king is considered a kind of divinity and where for those who criticize him it is also planned. imprisonment based on a law, one of the most severe in the world, that punishes the crime of treason with penalties of up to 15 years.
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