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Pro-democracy protesters hold up their mobile phones with lights as they occupy the Victory Monument during an anti-government rally in Bangkok on October 18, 2020, as protesters continue for a fourth day in a row defying an emergency decree banning gatherings . (Photo by Jack TAYLOR / AFP)
BANGKOK – Tens of thousands of protesters defied a ban on gatherings of more than four people for mass at a major Bangkok landmark on Sunday, carrying posters depicting activists detained in four consecutive days of raucous anti-government demonstrations.
The youth-led movement has suffered several blows this week, with dozens of arrests after protesters surrounded a royal caravan and delivered “hails to democracy” to Queen Suthida.
The government reacted with emergency measures, including a ban on gatherings of more than four people in Bangkok, and the arrest of protest leaders who called for the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former military chief who came to the power in 2014. hit.
Police also used water cannons against protesters in Bangkok’s central business district on Friday in an escalation of tactics that sparked outrage in Thai society.
But the crackdown has only served to embolden the movement’s mostly young supporters, who have flocked to short-announced rally points in an attempt to outwit the authorities.
“I can’t let the students fight alone,” said 24-year-old Phat, who is participating for the first time in a rally at the Victory Monument in Bangkok.
National Police spokesman Yingyos Thepjumnong warned protesters early Sunday that demonstrations that “cause disturbances and disorder” would not be allowed.
“If challenged, the police will do whatever it takes to enforce the law,” he said.
But police maintained a low-key presence on Sunday, as local media said more than 20,000 people had approached the scene since afternoon shouting “Free our friends” while carrying placards of those arrested.
Breaking taboos
Those portrayed included human rights lawyer Anon Numpa, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, three of the movement’s most recognizable faces who have consistently called for reforms to the monarchy.
Among their demands is the abolition of a draconian royal defamation law, which protects King Maha Vajiralongkorn from criticism, and a call for the monarch to stay out of the country’s turbulent politics.
Once taboo in Thailand, demands for royal reform is one of the biggest challenges facing the Conservative government aligned with the kingdom’s armed forces.
“There are groups of people who claim the monarchy for their own benefit and to get rid of their political opponents,” said a 24-year-old graduate who asked not to be named.
“We will not achieve a true democracy if there is no monarchical reform,” he told AFP.
Media-savvy protesters
Victory Monument, one of Bangkok’s busiest thoroughfares, was blocked by protesters but they gave way to emergency vehicles and sent supplies by human chains formed along the streets leading to the roundabout.
Since the movement began in July, social media savvy protesters have taken advantage of unorthodox ways to spread their messages, sending alerts through newly formed groups on Telegram, a secure messaging app, and borrowing advice from protests from pro-democracy in Hong Kong.
Another protest site in Asok, a popular shopping and restaurant district, drew a smaller group of protesters.
Meetings were planned across the country, from Phuket in the south to Khon Khaen in the northeast, where students held up a portrait of Prayut with the words “Out” scrawled on it.
The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights group reported that at least 80 people have been arrested since Tuesday.
So far, the charges against the protesters range from breaking emergency measures to sedition.
On Friday, however, two activists were charged under a rarely used law prohibiting “violence against the queen”, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Authorities defended their use of force on Friday, saying it was in accordance with “international standards.”
/ MUF
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