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BANGKOK, Sept. 20 (Reuters): Openly defying the monarchy of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, thousands of protesters marched in Bangkok on Sunday to present demands that include a call for reforms to curb his powers.
The protesters have grown bolder and bolder during two months of demonstrations against Thailand’s palace and the military-dominated establishment, breaking a long-standing taboo on criticizing the monarchy, which is illegal under the laws of lese majesty.
The Royal Palace was not immediately available for comment. The king is not currently in Thailand.
The protesters were blocked by hundreds of unarmed policemen with crowd control barriers.
The protest leaders declared victory after saying that the Royal Guard police had agreed to transfer their demands to the police headquarters. Police did not immediately comment.
“Our biggest victory in the two days is to show that ordinary people like us can send a letter to royalty,” Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak told the crowd.
In the largest rally in years, tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday applauded calls for reform of the monarchy, as well as for the removal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former leader of the junta, and a new constitution and elections.
Shortly after sunrise on Sunday, protesters posted a plaque near Bangkok’s Grand Palace in the area known as Sanam Luang or Royal Field.
He says: “In this place the people have expressed their will: that this country belongs to the people and is not the property of the monarch, since they have deceived us.”
The police did not intervene. Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said the police would not use violence against protesters and that it was up to the police to determine and prosecute any illegal speech.
“Down with feudalism, long live the people,” the protesters chanted.
The plaque resembles an unexplained one removed from the outside of one of the royal palaces in 2017, after Vajiralongkorn took the throne. That plaque, which had commemorated the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, was replaced by one with a pro-monarchical motto.
Earlier, a set of demands by Thai protesters for King Maha Vajiralongkorn were handed over to the Royal Guard police on Sunday after a march of thousands of people was blocked at security barriers in the capital Bangkok, said one of the leaders of the protest.
Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul told reporters that the police had said that the letter would be sent to the police headquarters.
The protesters’ demands include the removal of former junta leader Prayuth Chan-O-Cha as prime minister and a new constitution and elections, as well as reforms that would curb the powers of the monarchy. – Reuters
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