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Of: TT
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February 1 | Photo: Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP / TT
A Buddhist monk is handing out face masks to the thousands of protesters who refused to leave Sanam Luang Square, in front of the Royal Palace in Bangkok, overnight until Sunday.
Thousands of protesters marched early Sunday morning towards the Royal Palace in Bangkok.
They were prevented from reaching the palace, but a protest leader claims that they have achieved their main goal with the march: to deliver a letter to King Maha Vajiralongkorn presenting their demands.
Among the protesters’ demands is that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, who assumed power in the country after a coup in 2014, resign and that a new constitution be drawn up, where the king and the apparently inviolable monarchy of the country no longer have so much power.
Early in the morning, the protesters had placed a plaque, with the message that Thailand belongs to the people and not to the royal house, in Sanam Luang Square, in front of the Royal Palace.
The plaque is similar to the one that previously existed at the same location and was erected to commemorate the abolition of the absolute monarchy in 1932. That plaque was removed when King Maha Vajiralongkorn took the throne in 2017.
Thousands spent the night
In the largest demonstration since the 2014 coup, tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital on Saturday night to protest against political power and the royal family. Later, thousands of protesters chose to spend the night in Sanam Luang Square.
They would then march towards the government building, but in the morning the plans were changed, and instead they headed towards the royal palace.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, taking hundreds of protesters away by truck.
Saturday’s protest, on the anniversary of the coup, began at the central Thammasat University, which has been the focus of many of the protests that have taken place since July. Protesters condemn the elections held last year, elections that led to the coup leader Prayuth Chan-O-Cha remaining prime minister.
Protests for months
During the summer months, student-led groups staged demonstrations critical of the government almost daily. They have demanded more democracy, a rewritten constitution and new elections. The protesters are also demanding greater transparency in the accounts of the royal house, the abolition of the rigid royal legislation on defamation and that the king stay out of politics.
Criticizing the royal family has long been taboo in Thailand, even among opposition figures.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has called the demands “unacceptable” to a “majority” of Thais.
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