BANGKOK – They gather at a monument celebrating Thai democracy. They raised their hands in opposition under a giant image of the king dressed in wreath regalia.
At least 10,000 protesters, many first-time participants in political rallies, gathered on Sunday in Bangkok, demanding change in a country where military tanks tend to shape politics more than the ballot box.
The nearly eight-hour protest, which filled a wide avenue in the heart of the city with black-clad people, was the largest rally in Thailand since a coup in 2014, one of a dozen successful putts in the country in the last nine decades .
A state of emergency imposed due to the coronavirus made the demonstration technically illegal, and any participant could simply be arrested for appearing. However, the police stood by some, empty behind a Mercedes-Benz showroom.
Thailand’s growing protest movement, which was set up last month by student activism, has since gained wider support.
While Thailand has escaped the hustle and bustle of the pandemic, it is economically plummeting, and millions are out of work. With Prayuth Chan-ocha, the retired general who choreographed the latest coup, still leading the country as prime minister, Thais have intensified calls for a new political order.
“We have had many political divisions in our country, but now, despite our backgrounds, many of us are united in doubting the legitimacy of this government,” Nuttaa said. Mahattana, a democracy activist. “Look who’s here, a lot of different kinds of people.”
The protest leaders have demanded a new constitution, one not written by the military, as was the current charter. They have called on parliament to dissolve. They advocate for the protection of human rights at a time when vocal critics of the military and monarchy have disappeared and been assassinated. And they say they will continue to collect if their goals are not met.
“We do not hate the country, but we hate you, Prayuth Chan-ocha,” Benjamaporn Nivas, a 15-year-old student, sang from the stage she shared with others, took the melody of a children’s song and added new lyrics. “We do not want a dictatorship.”
Sunday’s protest took place at the Democracy Monument, which was built to commemorate the bloodless 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy in Thailand. The country is now a constitutional monarchy, but some of the protest leaders have accused the palace of violating the terms of that form of government.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun spends little time in Thailand, living most of the year in Europe. He consolidated financial and military power, bringing crown chests and influential army units under his control.
After some protesters demanded checks on the power of the palace at meetings last week, a rare challenge in a country where reading majesty critics of the crown can land in prison for up to 15 years, the authorities the leaders of the movement to keep the monarchy out of their speeches.
But as Sunday night’s rally streamed, following speeches on labor law, student unions and rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people, Arnon Nampa, a young human rights lawyer, took the stage and married each such request. . Earlier, a laser had projected a hashtag that asked in Thai, “why do we need a king?” on the white face of the Democracy Monument.
The authorities “have asked us to stop dreaming,” he said, referring to “the biggest dream to see the monarchy stay with Thai society,” instead of drifting above the unfounded by legal records.
“I announce here,” he added, “that we will continue to dream.”
The demonstration took place under a large photo of the king during his 2019 coronation, when he was formally presented with a 16-pound gold crown and a fortune making him one of the richest royalty in the world. .
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Above the orderly ranks of Protestants was also an enlarged image of Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, the king’s fourth wife, in a military uniform. A former flight attendant, she received the military rank of general in the king’s bodyguard corps.
On Sunday, a pro-royalist counter-priest was also gathered. The numbers were small.
Even before the protest began, the Thai security apparatus had begun to harass those who might want to speak to them. Mr Arnon was arrested last week on charges. He and another activist also have complaints about reading majesty.
This Sunday morning, Pongsak Phusitsakul, an opposition politician whose party was disbanded before last year’s elections, said his dogs alerted him to six police officers who went to his home, he said, to intimidate him for the rally.
“I’m used to it,” he said. “But I worry about the youth, what they will face and what their parents and families will have to do.”
Earlier Thai protests have been violently crushed, with dozens killed in downtown Bangkok, including students.
Even though many of the Protestants on Sunday posted selfies on Instagram and Facebook – at least if the Internet had not lost to a crawl – some of the first-time participants wanted to give participants their names.
A 17-year-old high school student stood at the rally with a small, handmade sign that said, “Dictatorship will disappear! Long live democracy.” She posed willingly for a picture, but began to identify herself.
She had told her parents she was going to the movie. Somehow, she said, she was instead appalled by the protest.
Muktita Suhartono contributed reporting.
