On the brink of the last brink of repression: Thailand imposes a “state of emergency in Bangkok” and a total ban on popular resistance | last 24 hours | udn Global

10/15/2020 24 hour corner

【2020. 10. 15 Thailand】

On the brink of the last brink of repression: Thailand forced a “state of emergency in Bangkok” to completely ban popular resistance

“You have violated national security!” Thailand’s street student movement’s struggle in 2020 entered the latest wave of tension on the morning of the 15th. It opposed the expansion of royal power and violated the Freedom Constitution, and condemned the military prime minister Parayu for maintaining the dictatorship of the royal family before the young protesters. They took to the streets of Bangkok again on the night of the 14th. In the process, they not only shouted slogans to the royal family convoy and raised the “Three Fingers of Resistance”. More than 10,000 protesters even surrounded the Thai government building overnight and once again made a collective call for “Prayut to resign immediately.” However, with the accumulation of public grievances and opposition forces at high speed, Prime Minister Prayud, known for his toughness, dispatched the army and riot police at 3 am on the 15th, and announced at 4 am that Bangkok had issued a “serious” emergency. Status “, a total ban on gatherings of more than 5 people.

Although the atmosphere in the government building was once close to armed repression, the pro-democracy leader Anon Nampa, who was guarding the scene, calmly ordered people to disperse peacefully. However, after the protester’s partner emerged safely, Anon himself and other leaders of the student movement were again arrested and imprisoned by the Thai police who ambushed them.

The struggle of the student movement in Thailand has flourished everywhere since July this year. The long-term cause is the various political oppressions of the Thai government and the false accusations against the civilian opposition; the short-term cause is that Prime Minister Prayud used the epidemic and the expansion of Thai royal power to try to destroy and violate the democratic power of the Thai Constitution. Therefore, under the accumulated pressure of freedom and persecution and the socio-economic difficulties caused by the impact of the epidemic, those angry and unable to continue tolerating the Thai people will actively participate in peaceful street demonstrations and propose to “stop the rape of the people. , redraft the new constitution, dissolve Three basic demands, including the resignation of the Prime Minister of Parliament, have continuously launched a fight against the Parayu regime.

Related demonstrations flared up in the summer of 2020, but it wasn’t until October that they escalated into a new wave of “decisive battle mood”, in this regard, because on October 6 was Thailand’s “Hosei University” of 1976 On the other hand, King Rama X, who lived in Germany and lived extravagantly, also brought the royal family back with the traditional Buddhist ritual of the royal family, the “Festival of Monk’s Dress.” Thailand Therefore, all kinds of struggles and political actions will be dragged down by all parties and will enter the extremely tense and uncertain “October showdown”.

According to the original plan of the student movement, the demonstrations were supposed to return to the streets of Bangkok on Wednesday and the fourth. However, some protesters who took to the streets to set up camp in advance and prepare for action were violently evicted by riot police on Tuesday night. The popular sentiment that was stirred for a time, by contrast, drew more than 10,000 people to respond. All kinds of people who were dissatisfied with traditional Thai politics and the center of government power began to launch “political demonstrations” against the Thai king and the king’s caravan.

According to the Financial Times and Reuters, the carriages of King Rama X and Queen Suthida encountered protesters on the streets of Bangkok on the 13th and 14th. But especially on the afternoon of the 14th, the carriage of Queen Suthida and Prince Tibanggong was blocked by a large number of people who raised the “gesture of resistance of three fingers” (sign of the Thai protest, derived from the allusion to the movie “The Hunger Games”). At the protest, everyone not only shouted the slogan of Prime Minister Parayut’s resignation, but it was also extremely rare and broke the taboo of Thai society. On the street, the royal caravan mocked the Thai royal family for “not protecting the people” and “could they be tax thieves”.

However, apart from the demonstrations and ridicule, the people on the street took no other actions against the royal convoy. More than 10,000 people gathered for democratic protests and also flooded downtown Bangkok in order to surround the Thai government buildings. The relevant actions continued until the early morning of the 15th. Although the large groups of protesters had gradually dispersed, the remaining protesters were still peacefully stationed outside the building, and under the leadership of lawyer Anon, they continued to broadcast “The Prime Minister Resigned.” “Direct appeal”.

The protesters in front of the government building simply surveyed the surroundings. The tired ones left at dawn, and those who insisted on returning prepared to wait until 4 in the afternoon and then moved to the central station and plaza to continue, and even continued with another wave of demonstrations to begin on Thursday in the afternoon.

However, while everyone was waiting and cleaning, a large number of riot police and military vehicles entered and exited one after another around 3 am on the 15th and began to gather. At 3:57 in the morning, everyone’s mobile phones also sent out a “news bulletin”, confirming that Prime Minister Parayu has issued the “Royal Gazette”, since immediately, the Bangkok area has officially entered a “serious” emergency. “.

“There are conspirators who have threatened the royal caravan … In view of this, the government has every reason to believe that this has seriously endangered national security and threatened the life, property and leaders of the country.”

In the statement, Prime Minister Parayú not only ignored public complaints on the street and calls for resignation, but considered the organization of the student movement a “conspiracy to incite riots” and even accused their behavior of “hindering by Complete COVID prevention by our government 19 epidemic prevention results … Therefore, we must take “necessary measures”.

Parayu cited the authorization of the Law of the State of Emergency and announced that “all political demonstrations … and public gatherings of more than 5 people” will be banned from now on. At the same time, the government also has the right to search, seize, restrict and arrest “media, Internet and social networks”. Group communication … and all communication channels, disseminate any information that encourages gatherings and resistance “.

At the same time, Thailand’s Interior Ministry has also aggressively beefed up anti-riot forces from outside the country, more than 2,000 heavy-duty policemen, who are marching towards the Bangkok central guard. Among them, in addition to erecting snake cages and rejecting horses and other “road closures,” the army and police have also set up a series of checkpoints and banned Thais from entering the “first-level blockade” around from the government building after 4pm. The intention of the protesting people to regroup is very obvious.

After the “emergency order” corresponding to 4 am on the 15th was officially announced, the protesters outside the government building were suddenly thrown into a mixture of anger and panic. But one of the movement’s leaders – attorney Anon – took the stage the first night and yelled at everyone, save for an immediate announcement that “this is the end of the morning demonstrations.”

Anon analyzed the atmosphere and the current situation in the place and judged that “the Parayu government can launch” armed repression “as excuses at any time; but at the same time, it calmly calmed everyone’s emotions, and on the one hand, He openly called on the assembled riot troops “not to stimulate Acting rashly”, the two sides also asked everyone:

Under the calm coordination of Anon and others, the surrounding situation was also in a calm but relatively orderly tense atmosphere, and they got out without a hitch before dawn. But in the process, sporadic protesters were still detained because they refused to come out or prevented the police from making a sudden advance. At the same time, Anon, who did not leave the front line of the demonstration until 6pm, stayed until the end. He was later charged by Thai police with “violating the state of emergency ban (enacted just two hours ago)” and inciting illegal demonstrations. Arrested and imprisoned.

Besides lawyer Anon, many Thai student movement leaders, such as “Penguin” Pali (Parit Chiwarak) and the Valkyrie of Hosei Panusaya University (Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul), were also paralyzed for the same reason. Yu government arrested.

However, it is currently uncertain whether the Parayu government will expand the repression and persecution under the authorization of the “state of emergency.” When the leader of the school is arrested one after another, how will the angry young Thais cope with Bangkok, which is on the brink of death? Is it to avoid the threat of violent repression by the military and the police? Or do you want to challenge the corrupt politics of decades? The uncertainty and changes in 2020 are also testing the mood and confidence in October.