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BANGKOK: Prominent leaders of Thailand’s protest movement vowed to return to the streets on Sunday (October 25) to demonstrate against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, after his deadline for his resignation was ignored.
The former military chief is facing pressure from a student-led movement that has been organizing mass demonstrations for months calling for his resignation.
They consider his grip on power, renewed after last year’s disputed elections, to be illegitimate and had given him three days to resign on Wednesday.
When the deadline for Prayut to resign at 10 pm on Saturday came and went, activist Jatupat “Pai” Boonpattararaksa said protesters would flock Sunday at a major Bangkok intersection.
“We listened to the prime minister’s response to our request,” Pai told a crowd outside the Bangkok remand prison, where protesters had gathered to call for the release of fellow activists.
“Tomorrow as citizens, we will protest against Prayut in Ratchaprasong at 4 pm.”
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The Thai government and the country’s protest movement did not appear any closer to resolving their differences as the protesters’ deadline for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign approached. (Photo: AP)
Prayut stood firm on Saturday while attending a nationwide prayer ceremony at a historic Bangkok temple, saying “all problems can be solved” through compromise.
“The government has real intentions to solve the problems as long as it is within the line of the laws,” he told reporters, adding that “he will not resign.”
The movement largely lacks leaders, although different groups are united when it comes to their demands for a reform of the Prayut government.
Some are also issuing controversial calls to reform the kingdom’s impregnable monarchy, questioning the role of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Thailand, which was once taboo due to the draconian royal defamation laws.
Another group called the Popular Movement announced a march to the German Embassy on Monday afternoon, in apparent defiance of the king, who spends long periods of time in Germany.
OFFENSIVE CHARM
The monarch has been back in Thailand for the past week and a half to mark a Buddhist holiday and the death of his late father Bhumibol Adulyadej.
He has not commented on the protests, despite mounting tension in Bangkok as the protesters grow bolder in their defiance of the royal institution.
But the king has made rare public visits with his followers waiting outside the palace, a charming offensive for an army of local and international media.
On Friday, he broke with royal protocol to praise a man who had displayed a portrait of the king’s parents at a rally.
“Very brave. Very good. Thank you,” the king told the man according to images posted on Facebook.
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Activists show images of protest leaders being detained in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 23, 2020 (Photo: AP / Sakchai Lalit).
That quote was trending as a hashtag on Twitter in Thailand after the interaction.
Another trending topic Sunday morning was the hashtag “October 25 mafia,” a sign that protesters were preparing to rally for Sunday’s rally.
Prayut had initially imposed emergency measures banning gatherings of more than four, but lifted it a week later when he failed to quell the tens of thousands who attended guerrilla demonstrations in the capital.
A special parliamentary session has been called for Monday to discuss ways to reduce tensions.
