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People take photos with a commemorative plaque placed by pro-democracy protest leaders in Bangkok’s Sanam Luang camp on September 20, 2020, after an overnight anti-government rally.
Image Credit: AFP
Bangkok: Anti-government protesters occupying a historic field in the Thai capital installed on Sunday a plaque symbolizing the country’s transition to democracy to replace the original one that was mysteriously ripped and stolen three years ago as they vowed to go ahead with orders. of new elections and reform of the monarchy.
The mass student-led rally that began on Saturday was the largest in a series of protests this year, with thousands of people camping overnight in the Sanam Luang field near the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
A group of activists dug a hole in front of a makeshift stage and, after Buddhist rituals, placed a round bronze plaque in cement to commemorate the 1932 revolution that changed Thailand from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.
“At dawn on September 20, this is where the people proclaim that this country belongs to the people,” read part of the inscription on the plaque. In April 2017, the original plaque disappeared from the Royal Plaza in Bangkok and was replaced by one praising the monarchy.
“The nation does not belong to one person, it belongs to all of us,” student leader Parit ‘Penguin’ Chirawak told the crowd. “Therefore, I would like to ask the holy spirits to stay with us and bless the victory of the people.”
Another activist, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, said his demands do not propose to get rid of the monarchy. “They are proposals with good intentions to make the institution of the monarchy gracefully stand above the people under democratic rule,” said Panusaya.
Still, such calls took the nation by surprise. The protesters’ demands seek to limit the king’s powers, establish stricter controls over the palace’s finances and allow an open discussion about the monarchy. His audacity was unprecedented, as the monarchy is considered sacrosanct in Thailand, with a harsh law requiring a prison term of three to 15 years for defamation.
Later, the protesters tried to march towards the Grand Palace to deliver a petition seeking royal reforms to the head of the Privy Council, the king’s advisers, but were blocked by police barricades. One of them, Panusaya, was allowed to deliver the petition, which was addressed to the king. He was greeted by a police officer, who promised to refer him to the town hall.
Just before the rally ended, Parit called for a general strike on October 14, the anniversary of a popular student uprising in 1973 that ended a military dictatorship after dozens were killed by police. He also urged people to withdraw their funds and close their accounts at Siam Commercial Bank, in which the king is the largest shareholder. Calls for comment to the bank, also known as SCB, and several of its corporate communications executives went unanswered or did not connect.
Parit also called for another protest on Thursday in front of parliament to follow up on protesters’ demands.
Organizers had predicted that up to 50,000 people would participate in the weekend’s protest, but Associated Press reporters estimated that around 20,000 were present Saturday night.
Tyrell Haberkorn, a Thai studies scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that while holding his protest at Sanam Luang, a former “ site of recreation and protest for the people, taken over in recent years by the monarchy, ” The protesters “have won a significant victory.”
“His resounding message is that Sanam Luang, and the country, belong to the people,” he said in an email.
The crowd was a disparate group. They included an LGBTQ contingent waving iconic rainbow flags as red flags flowed in the area, representing Thailand’s Red Shirt political movement, which fought against the country’s military on the streets of Bangkok 10 years ago.
There were skits and music, and speakers gave fiery speeches Saturday night accusing the government of incompetence, corruption in the military and failing to protect women’s rights. At least 8,000 police officers were reportedly deployed for the event.
“The people who came here today came here peacefully and they are really calling for democracy,” said Panupong Jadnok, one of the leaders of the protest.
Their central demands were the dissolution of parliament with new elections, a new constitution, and an end to intimidation of political activists.
They believe that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as an army commander led a coup in 2014 to overthrow an elected government, unjustly returned to power in last year’s general election because the laws had been changed to favor an pro-military party. Protesters say a constitution promulgated under a military regime is undemocratic.
The students are too young to have been caught up in the sometimes violent partisan battles that rocked Thailand a decade ago, said Kevin Hewison, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina and a veteran academic in Thai studies.
“What the regime and its supporters see is that relatively well-off children turned against them and this confuses them,” he said.
The emergence of the Red Shirts, while increasing the number of protests, links the new movement to rural Thais, mostly poor, supporters of former billionaire populist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. Thaksin seized. opposed the traditional royalist establishment of the country.
The sometimes violent fighting between Thaksin supporters and conservative enemies left Thai society polarized. Thaksin, now living in exile, noted on Twitter on Saturday that it was the anniversary of his fall from power and raised the rhetorical question of how the nation has fared since then.
“If we had a good government, a democratic government, our politics, our education and our health system would be better than this,” said protester Amorn Panurang. “This is our dream. And we hope that our dream will come true. ”
Arrests for past actions on charges that include sedition have not fazed young activists. They had been denied permission to enter the campus of Thammasat and Sanam Luang University on Saturday, but when they pushed, the authorities withdrew, despite being warned by police that they were breaking the law.
