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BANGKOK: Some students from Thailand’s Thammasat University posed with cardboard cutouts of well-known critics of the monarchy at a protest on Saturday (October 31) when King Maha Vajiralongkorn would present his degrees amid growing calls for royal reform.
Youth and student-led demonstrations that began in July demanding the removal of former military leader Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister have increasingly called for curbing the king’s powers, breaking a long-standing taboo.
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Thai PBS state broadcaster quoted a source as saying that only about half of the 9,600 Thammasat graduates this year joined in rehearsals that are essential for graduation ceremony attendees.
A student stands next to a cardboard cutout of Somsak Jeamteerasakul, an exiled Thai academic, before his graduation ceremony.
Last year, he said, only 10 percent missed the final ceremony.
The palace has not commented since the protests began. Prayut warned students on Friday not to interrupt graduation ceremonies at Thammasat, long considered a center of radicalism.
The student protesters put up life-size cardboard cutouts of historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul and former diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun, widely followed critics of the monarchy living in self-exile.
A student stands next to a cardboard cutout of Somsak Jeamteerasakul, an exiled Thai academic, on October 31, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha).
“I chose to take a photo with Somsak because I respect him and I don’t think he deserves whatever happened to him for speaking the truth and openly criticizing the monarchy with courage,” said a 23-year-old student, who gave his name. like Marut.
Some students posed with a cardboard cutout of Bernard, a well-known nut seller on campus for decades. Many students, at the ceremony with their families, ignored the cuts.
The university did not respond to a request for comment.
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On Friday, some students boycotted the graduation ceremonies led by the king.
Suppanat Kingkaew, 23, said he was boycotting the ceremonies to be held on Friday and Saturday at Thammasat University.
“Whatever it takes to keep the room with the fewest number of people,” Suppanat told Reuters. “This is to send an indirect message that some of us are not happy with the monarchy and we want change.”
It was unclear how many students joined the boycott. Images from the room showed only alternate seats occupied due to social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The king told the students to use their knowledge and skill to honor and serve the country.
Papangkorn Asavapanichakul, 24, was among those who attended the graduation. “I want photography. It is a once in a lifetime event,” he said.
Of the students planning to attend the ceremonies, some said family pressure had outweighed politics.
“My mother asked me to come,” said a 24-year-old student who gave his name only as Japan. “I really didn’t want to join, honestly.”
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The graduation ceremony with accompanying photos is a rite of passage in Thailand.
Many families display gold-framed photographs of graduates receiving degrees from the monarch, a practice started last century to strengthen royal ties with the middle class.
This year’s protests have challenged the Palace’s prestige to a great extent since the 1932 revolt that ended the absolute monarchy.
A week-long government crackdown in mid-October, banning protests and arresting many protest leaders, failed when it sparked larger demonstrations.
Three of the best-known protest leaders were arrested again overnight after the limit to keep them in detention expired. Images of one of them being transported unconscious from a police van fueled the anger of the protesters.
Thai human rights lawyers said they believed the police had strangled 24-year-old Panupong “Mike Rayong” Jadnok. Police spokesman Kissana Phatanacharoen told Reuters that he “had a reaction and was sent to hospital”, describing the arrest procedures as “normal”.
