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BANGKOK: Thai police used water cannons and charged at protesters who had gathered near the King’s Palace in Bangkok on Saturday (March 20) to call for the release of the protest leaders and to demand the reform of the monarchy.
Hundreds of policemen in riot gear and shields advanced on different fronts against the protesters to drive people away from the Grand Palace. In some places they faced protesters who threw firecrackers.
More than 1,000 protesters had gathered near the palace in Bangkok in an area known as Sanam Luang or Royal Field.
Protesters clash with riot police during an anti-government protest in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 20, 2021. (Photo: Reuters / Chalinee Thirasupa)
“We will arrest anyone on the streets,” police said over loudspeakers as several lines of police advanced, pushing people back.
The demonstrations come after parliament this week failed to pass a bill to rewrite the military-backed constitution, one of the protesters’ main demands.
This week began a mass trial for the leaders of the protest against activists accused of sedition and insulting the monarchy.
READ: Thai protest leaders go to trial for sedition and royal insults
“We demand real democracy and not a government that says it is elected but comes from the army,” said a man who identified himself only as Kung, 60 years old. “The world has changed and we want the same kind of monarchy as in western countries.”
A person places barbed wire along containers that block a road near the Grand Palace before the anti-government protest, demanding government resolutions and reforms in the monarchy, in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 20, 2021 (Photo : Reuters / Soe). Zeya Tun)
A portrait of the king near the protest area was defaced.
Deputy Police Spokesperson Kissana Pattanacharoen previously said the protests were illegal and violated laws to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Thailand’s youth protest movement has posed the biggest challenge yet for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Protesters say he engineered a process that would preserve the political status quo and keep him in power after the 2019 elections. Prayut has rejected that.
The protesters also broke a traditional taboo by demanding reform of the monarchy, saying that the constitution drafted by the military after the 2014 coup gives the king too much power.
The Royal Palace has declined to comment directly on the protests, but Prayut and government officials have said criticism of the king is illegal and inappropriate.
