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BANGKOK – Thousands of anti-government protesters in Bangkok rallied in defiance on Saturday (October 17) after a police crackdown a day earlier, claiming the government had used excessive violence and demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. .
Unlike on Friday, when riot police attacked protesters with water cannons before advancing into the crowd with shields and batons, the security presence on Saturday was light. The flash mobs ended peacefully after a few hours.
This was the fourth consecutive day of mass protests despite Prayut’s declaration of a “grave emergency” in Bangkok on Thursday, which banned political gatherings of five or more people and gave security officers wide powers to search and arrest. to people.
The decree was made in response to a protest inside Bangkok on Wednesday that appeared to slow down a motorcade with Queen Suthida and Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti. Two protesters at the scene have been charged with endangering the Queen, a crime that can carry a possible life sentence.
Prime Minister Prayut, according to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri, defended the police breakout of Friday’s rally at the Pathumwan intersection.
“The government carried out the operation to end the protest within the legal conventions,” Anucha said on Saturday. “It did not harm the rights and freedoms of any group of people.”
Friday’s events created neither winners nor losers, just losses for the country, he said.
“The Prime Minister asked the people to join together to prevent protests and any illegal violence.”
Anti-government protesters dispersed by police amid the chaos on Friday returned to the streets on Saturday, this time prepared with umbrellas and motorcycle helmets.
“We had no weapons, only umbrellas. How could they do this to us?” said a 23-year-old student who wanted to be known as Por. She was among the thousands who occupied the busy Lat Phrao intersection for about four hours on Saturday.
“I’m a little scared, but I feel like I can’t give up. The more they arrest, the more we have to get out. We can’t abandon our friends.”
According to Thai Human Rights Lawyers, at least 72 people have been arrested in protest-related cases since Tuesday.
Police shut down Bangkok’s entire electric train network on Saturday afternoon in an attempt to prevent protesters from gathering. In response, people walked or huddled in tuk-tuks to go to the sites that were advertised through social media less than an hour before the protests began. Many of them were high school students who took turns condemning the government through loudspeakers while their peers sat on the track.
Several previously arrested key protest leaders continue to be denied bail. Among them are human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa and Thammasat University students Parit Chiwarak and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul.
The trio have championed monarchy reform, a deeply taboo subject in Thailand, where insulting the king or queen can land a criminal in prison for up to 15 years. His fierce speeches have opened the lid on public discussion about the role of the Thai monarchy.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn took possession of the multi-million dollar assets of the Crown Property Bureau two years ago and controls two units of the army. He spends much of his time in Germany.
The protesters have questioned their spending amid the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic and are calling for their powers to be curtailed in accordance with Thailand’s status as a constitutional monarchy. The protesters also want amendments to the military-backed constitution that they say favor Prayut, who came to power after staging a military coup in 2014.
Matthew Wheeler, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, wrote in a note published Friday that the need for “a new concord on the changing role of the monarchy” was “overwhelming.”
“Government officials and royalists insist that public discussion of this role is off limits, but their position is, in light of recent events, anachronistic. The degree of repression necessary to effectively reinstate the ban, including in line, it would tarnish both the government and the monarchy. “
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