[ad_1]
BANGKOK: Some students at Thailand’s Thammasat University posed with cardboard cutouts of well-known critics of the monarchy on Saturday in a protest as King Maha Vajiralongkorn would present his degrees amid growing calls for royal reform.
Youth and student-led demonstrations that began in July demanding the removal of former junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister have called for increasing restrictions on the king’s powers, breaking a long-standing taboo.
Thai PBS state broadcaster quoted a source as saying that only about half of the 9,600 Thammasat graduates this year joined in rehearsals that are essential for graduation ceremony attendees. Last year, he said, only 10% missed the final ceremony.
The Palace has not commented since the protests began. Prayuth warned students Friday not to interrupt graduation ceremonies at Thammasat, long considered a center of radicalism.
The student protesters put up life-size cardboard cutouts of historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul and former diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun, widely followed critics of the monarchy living in self-exile.
“I chose to take a photo with Somsak because I respect him and I don’t think he deserves whatever happened to him for telling the truth and openly criticizing the monarchy with courage,” said a 23-year-old student, who gave his name as Marut .
Some students posed with a cardboard cutout of Bernard, a well-known nut seller on campus for decades. Many students, at the ceremony with their families, ignored the cuts.
The university did not respond to a request for comment.
The graduation ceremony with accompanying photos is a rite of passage in Thailand.
Many families display gold-framed photographs of graduates receiving degrees from the monarch, a practice started last century to strengthen royal ties with the middle class.
This year’s protests have challenged the Palace’s prestige to a great extent since the 1932 revolt that ended the absolute monarchy.
A week-long government crackdown in mid-October, banning protests and arresting many protest leaders, failed when it sparked larger demonstrations.
Three of the best-known protest leaders were arrested again overnight after the limit to keep them in detention expired. Images of one of them being transported unconscious from a police van fueled the anger of the protesters.
Thai human rights lawyers said they believed Panupong “Mike Rayong” Jadnok, 24, had been strangled by police. Police spokesman Kissana Phatanacharoen told Reuters that he “had a reaction and was sent to hospital”, describing the arrest procedures as “normal”.
