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BANGKOK: Dozens of Thai royalists and anti-government protesters clashed in Bangkok on Wednesday (October 21) as demands for reforms to the monarchy and the departure of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha intensified.
Thousands of protesters also gathered at the Victory Monument in central Bangkok for a march, defying a ban on political gatherings aimed at ending three months of protests.
A royalist group had demonstrated at Ramkhamhaeng University to show their support for the monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, but tension grew as student protesters gathered nearby.
The royalists in yellow shirts advanced towards the protesters and the two sides insulted each other. Some threw bottles of water and other objects before the students left and the police intervened to separate the sides.
Royalists speak to the media while attending the rally event to support King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 21, 2020 (Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun).
“Today we are victorious,” chanted the royalists.
Almost all protests have been peaceful so far, apart from the incidents last week when riot police with shields and batons used water cannons against protesters.
Police spokesman Yingyos Thepjumnong said that all groups would receive the same treatment.
“We are ready for big surprises every day,” he said. “We need to balance law enforcement with peace and social security, regardless of whose meetings.”
Royalist supporters gesture when police prevent them from addressing an anti-government rally by protesters at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok on October 21, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Jack Taylor).
The protests have become the biggest challenge to the establishment of Thailand in years and have drawn the most outspoken opposition to the monarchy in decades despite lese majesty laws that set jail terms of up to 15 years for insulting the monarchy. .
When the protests began in July, they originally demanded a new constitution and the departure of Prime Minister Prayut, accusing him of holding onto power last year by designing elections that he said were fair.
Demands for changes to reduce the powers of the monarchy came later.
The Palace has a policy of not commenting to the media and has not commented on either the protests or the protesters’ demands.
Police try to separate realistic supporters from pro-democracy protesters at Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok on October 21, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Jack Taylor).
Several thousand protesters, many of them students and young people, said they would march from the Victory Monument to Prayut’s office at Government House.
“The government should just step down. Otherwise my future will be a disaster,” said a 16-year-old high school student who gave her name as Put. “I am just a student, but I also have the right to have my voice heard.”
Prayut’s office said he would make a televised speech at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Singapore time).
