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Reuters
Anti-government protesters installed a plaque declaring Thailand “belongs to the people,” in a bold display of opposition to the monarchy.
The plaque was placed near the Grand Palace in Bangkok in the last challenge to the Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Student-led protests calling for reform of the country’s monarchy and political system have been going on since July.
The weekend’s protests were some of the largest in years, with thousands challenging authorities to demand change.
Authorities say 18,000 people joined Saturday’s rally, although others give higher numbers. Many stayed to continue the protest until Sunday, before dispersing.
His calls for royal reform are particularly sensitive in Thailand, where criticism of the monarchy is punishable by long prison terms.
The protesters are also demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who took power in a coup in 2014 and won the disputed elections last year.
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On Sunday morning, student activists cemented a commemorative “village plaque” near a field known as Sanam Luang or Royal Field.
The plaque, dated September 20, 2020, proclaims in Thai: “The people have expressed the intention that this country belongs to the people and not to the king.”
Organizers said the plaque was a replacement for one marking the end of absolute monarchy in the 1930s, which disappeared in 2017.
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Cheers erupted as activists installed the new plaque, and protesters shouted: “Down with feudalism, long live the people.”
The police did not intervene and there were no reports of violence. A Thai government spokesman told Reuters news agency that the police would not use violence against protesters.
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Reuters
The leaders of the student protest delivered a letter of demands to the police of the King’s Royal Guard
Later, protesters who had planned to march to Government House were blocked by hundreds of unarmed police officers who were controlling the crowd control barriers.
Instead, the protesters marched to deliver a letter of demands for monarchy reform to the police of the King’s Royal Guard.
The protest leaders declared victory after saying that the Royal Guard police had agreed to transfer their demands to the police headquarters. There have been no comments from the police.
“Our biggest victory in the two days is to show that ordinary people like us can send a letter to royalty,” said protest leader Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, telling the crowd to come back for another rally next week.
Why are there protests?
Thailand has a long history of political unrest and protests, but a new wave began in February after a court ordered the dissolution of a fledgling pro-democracy opposition party.
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Reuters
Protesters were on the streets of Bangkok again on Sunday
The Future Forward Party (FFP) had proven particularly popular with young voters for the first time and won the third highest proportion of parliamentary seats in the March 2019 elections, which were won by the incumbent military leadership.
The protests were reignited in June when prominent pro-democracy activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit disappeared in Cambodia, where he had been in exile since the 2014 military coup.
His whereabouts are unknown and protesters accuse the Thai state of orchestrating his kidnapping, something that the police and the government have denied. Since July there have been regular street protests led by students.
The protesters have demanded that the government headed by Prime Minister Chan-ocha, a former army chief who took power in the coup, be dissolved; that the constitution be rewritten; that authorities stop harassing critics.
what is different this time?
The protesters’ demands took an unprecedented turn last month when a 10-point call for reform of the monarchy was read at a rally.
The move moved a country that is taught from birth to revere and love the monarchy and fear the consequences of speaking about it.
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EPA
Protesters want Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign
The young woman who delivered the manifesto, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, has said that her intention “is not to destroy the monarchy but to modernize it, to adapt it to our society.”
But she and her fellow activists have been accused of “chung chart”, a Thai term that means “I hate the nation,” and they say they deeply fear the consequences of doing “the right thing” by speaking up.
What are the laws that protect the monarchy?
Each of the 19 modern-day Thai constitutions has stated, at the top, that: “The King will be enthroned in a position of revered worship” and that “no person shall expose the King to any kind of accusation or action” .
These provisions are backed by article 112 of the criminal code, known as the lese majestad law, which subjects critics of the royal family to secret trials and long prison terms.
The definition of what constitutes an insult to the monarchy is unclear and human rights groups say the law has often been used as a political tool to curb freedom of expression and opposition calls for reform and reform. change.
The law had been increasingly enforced in the years after the 2014 coup, although it has slowed since King Vajiralongkorn made it known that he no longer wanted it to be used so widely.
But observers say the government has used other legal avenues, including the sedition law, to attack dissent.
More on the Thailand protests:
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