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BANGKOK: Under mounting pressure from protesters demanding reforms to the monarchy, the King and Queen of Thailand gathered thousands of supporters in Bangkok on Sunday (November 1), mingling with citizens on the street after attending a religious ceremony inside the Grand Palace.
Crowds of royal devotees waited for hours outside the white walls of the palace grounds to greet them, bearing portraits of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida and waving national flags. Virtually everyone wore yellow shirts, signifying loyalty to the crown.
“I came here today guided by my heart,” said Pakawarin Damrongrotthawee, 44-year-old businesswoman and astrological consultant. “Born Thai, we should be grateful to the monarchy. If someone wants to protest against the government, they can. But they must not touch the monarchy. “
When the smiling royal couple emerged, members of the crowd shouted “Long live the King!” and kissed the monarch’s feet as the couple passed, several drying them with a towel. Some onlookers reached out to touch his hand and gave the couple yellow roses as they passed. Other members of the royal family followed.
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It was the last of several events of this type that have taken place in some cities of the country.
“This is the first time I have come to greet the king,” said Siraseth Limpisuree, 55. “I would like to encourage you, as a group of Thais have a wrong attitude towards the monarchy. I want you to understand that the monarchy is part of Thai society and that Thailand can never survive without the monarchy. We must not involve the monarchy in political chaos. The government can be changed, but the monarchy must not reform as they (the protesters) demand ”.
The student-led protesters said the palace wields undue power and influence for a constitutional monarchy and seeks to hold it more accountable to the law. They deny wanting to see the royal institution abolished.
Demands to reform the monarchy have broken a taboo in a way that would have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago. The royal institution has traditionally been presented as the cornerstone of the nation and above criticism.
READ: Thai royalists unite in counterpoint to student protesters
But the foundation of the institution was shaken by the death in 2016 of Vajiralongkorn’s father, King Bhumibol, after seven decades on the throne, leaving it vulnerable to criticism, despite a strict anti-defamation law from the monarchy that it can bring prison sentences of up to 15 years.
The protests began in July and originally demanded political changes, including new elections and a more democratic constitution, but parallel demands for reform from the monarchy have since taken center stage.
Thousands of people headed to the German embassy in Bangkok last Monday to appeal to Angela Merkel’s government to investigate whether the Thai king has exercised political power during his extended stays in Bavaria.
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On Thursday, protesters laid a red carpet on a major city street and staged a satirical fashion show, parodying an event that was being celebrated at the same time by Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, a daughter of the king who is a fashion designer, at a luxury hotel. close.
Unprecedented defiance of decades of tradition has led royalists, mainly older Thais, to organize their own demonstrations and denounce protesters for raising the issue, increasing the risk of violent clashes or intervention by the army, declaring the defense of the monarchy. be one of your main duties.
