[ad_1]
BANGKOK (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) – Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn said “the country needs people who love the country and love the monarchy,” in prerecorded comments broadcast on state television on Friday (October 16) of an event on the day. previous.
The king has not commented directly on three months of protests that have called for restrictions on his powers, as well as the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a former military ruler.
The king was addressing a group of former communists in northern Thailand.
“All your experience and the things you have done. You can teach the new generation your experience. This will be very useful,” he told them.
The comments came as thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in the Thai capital for the third day in a row after Prayut rejected requests to resign, intensifying a three-month movement demanding more democracy and less power for the monarchy.
Riot police used water cannons to try to disperse the protesters, who defied emergency rules and the ban on large gatherings with a last-minute change to the protest site to hold a rally at the main intersection near the center MBK Center shopping mall in downtown Bangkok.
A flash mob also organized a demonstration in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, when protest leaders called for demonstrations across the country.
The protesters are calling for a reform of the monarchy, as well as a rewriting of the Constitution, which was drawn up by an army-appointed panel after Prayut took power in a 2014 coup.
The letter was instrumental in helping Prayut retain power after the 2019 elections.
Prayut said Friday that he will not resign and that the emergency rules he declared Thursday will be in effect for 30 days, or less if the situation improves.
A state of emergency for Bangkok was announced after tens of thousands of protesters broke through police lines and surrounded Prayut’s office on Wednesday night.
The protesters’ use of social media to plan their meetings and open defiance to the police point to the determination of the movement’s leaders to keep up the pressure until their demands are met.
The movement, initially led mainly by students, has broken the taboos of publicly criticizing the royal family, which is at the peak of power in Thailand.
Police have said legal action will be taken against those who violated the ban on gathering five or more people.
On Friday, protesters called for the release of the arrested activists and urged people to join the rally to strengthen the movement.
[ad_2]
