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BANGKOK (Reuters) – Since protesters broke a long-standing taboo of criticizing Thailand’s monarchy in early August, their rallies in Bangkok have grown bolder and bolder to criticize King Maha Vajiralongkorn and demand change.
HOW DID THE PROTESTS START?
The anti-government protests emerged last year after the courts banned the most vocal party that opposes the government of former junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha.
After a pause during measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, protests resumed in mid-July, pushing for Prayuth’s removal, a new constitution and an end to harassment of activists.
Some protesters went further with a list of 10 demands to reform the monarchy.
Protesters say they are not seeking to end the monarchy, only to reform it, but conservatives are horrified by such attacks on an institution that the constitution says is “enthroned in a position of revered worship.”
Prayuth has said that while protests should be allowed, criticizing the monarchy goes too far.
WHAT DOES THE PALACE SAY?
The Royal Palace has not commented on the protests and demands for reform despite repeated requests.
WHAT REFORMS DO THE PROTESTERS WANT?
Not all protesters are demanding a reform of the monarchy, and some say those calls are counterproductive, but the size of the weekend’s demonstrations showed the scale of support.
The protesters want to reverse a 2017 surge in the king’s constitutional powers, made the year after he succeeded his late father, the widely revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Pro-democracy activists say Thailand is receding from the constitutional monarchy established when absolute royal rule ended in 1932. They say the monarchy is too close to the military and argue that this has undermined democracy.
The protesters also seek the removal of the lese majesty laws against insult to the king. They want the king to relinquish the personal control he assumed over a palace fortune estimated at tens of billions of dollars, and some units of the army.
WHY ELSE ARE THEY NOT HAPPY?
Protesters complain that the king endorsed Prayuth’s prime ministerial post after last year’s elections that, according to opposition figures, were designed to keep his hands in power. Prayuth, who as head of the army led a coup in 2014, says the elections were fair.
The protesters have expressed their anger that the king spends so much time in Europe.
They have also questioned the spending of the Palace and the lifestyle of the king, who has been married four times and took a royal consort last year.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE PLATE?
The protesters pasted a bronze plaque in the Sanam Luang, or Royal Field, near the Grand Palace. The plaque proclaims that Thailand belongs to the people, not the monarch.
It resembles one commemorating the end of absolute monarchy removed without explanation from the exterior of one of the royal palaces in 2017, a year after Vajiralongkorn assumed the throne, and replaced with one with a pro-monarchical slogan.
WHAT DO THE LAWS OF LESE MAJESTE MEAN?
The Thai monarchy is protected by section 112 of the country’s Penal Code, which says that anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, heir or regent will be imprisoned for three to 15 years.
In June, Prayuth said the law no longer applies due to “Her Majesty’s mercy.” The Royal Palace has never ruled on this.
Human rights groups say opponents of the government, including more than a dozen protest leaders, have recently been indicted under other laws, such as anti-sedition and cybercrime.
The government has said it does not target opponents, but it is the responsibility of the police to enforce the law.
(Written by Matthew Tostevin; Edited by Alex Richardson)
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