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BANGKOK: Thai protest leaders said on Friday (September 18) that they expected the largest anti-government rally in years this weekend and vowed to reiterate their calls for reforms of the monarchy despite official pressure to cease.
Protesters have been demanding since mid-July the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, and changes to a constitution they say was designed to extend the military’s dominance of politics after last year’s general elections.
Some protesters have also called for unprecedented reforms of the monarchy, which was previously a taboo subject in Thailand.
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“Tomorrow’s demonstration will make history and will be the largest since the 2014 coup,” Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, one of the protest leaders, told Reuters, adding that he believed up to 100,000 people could attend.
Police said they expected up to 50,000 to join the protest.
Thai politics has for years been marked by challenges to the realistic military establishment by politicians backed by poor urban and rural voters, and more recently by student protesters.
The army, which proclaims itself the defender of the country’s central institutions, particularly the monarchy, has intervened to overthrow civilian governments on numerous occasions, most recently in 2014, citing the need to maintain stability.
Tens of thousands of protesters will gather at Bangkok’s Thammasat University on Saturday and march towards the prime minister’s offices, known as Government House, on Sunday to pressure Prayut.
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A group of protesters from the university staged a rally last month in which a 10-point monarchy reform demand was read, including a call for the abolition of a law against royal criticism.
Prayut has said that the government would allow the protests as a form of freedom of expression, but that the monarchy’s demands for reform were not acceptable.
Parit said the demands will be repeated this weekend.
Thammasat University said last week that it would not allow the gathering on its campus, but protesters said they were sticking to their plan. They will also use the nearby Sanam Luang, a large open space in front of the Grand Palace.
Police said marching to Government House could violate a law prohibiting large gatherings near restricted sites.
On Thursday, Prayut warned protesters against the increased risks of spreading the new coronavirus and urged them to put the health crisis before politics.
