BANGKOK (Reuters) – Over two days of video calls earlier this month, about a dozen students from the Kasetsart and the Mahanakorn universities in Thailand debated breaking a taboo that could land them in jail: openly challenging the powerful monarchy of the country, according to two people at the talks.
PHILO PHOTO: Anon Nampa, one of the leaders of recent anti-government protests, speaks during a demonstration calling for the dismissal of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on August 9, 2020. REUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha
Protesters on the streets and online have made a growing number of forced references to King Maha Vajiralongkorn in recent months as they push for greater democracy, but no one had dared to make a public call for changes in the palace.
The students discussed during the talks a protest with a Harry Potter wizard theme and considered stopping open confrontation by simply calling it “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”, a reference to Potter’s archenemy in ‘ e JK Rowling books, the two participants said.
The argument for a clearer – but riskier statement won out.
On the evening of Monday, August 3, Human Rights Judge Anon Nampa, 35, took the stage at Bangkok’s Democratic Monument and called for the restriction of the palace’s powers, a very rare event.
“No other democratic country allows the king to have so much power over the army,” he said of over 200 Protestants, with police standing by them as he spoke. “This increases the risk that a monarchy in a democracy could become an absolute monarchy.”
While the country has been opened up by decades of political unrest, street protesters have previously not sought changes to the monarchy, which the constitution says should be kept “in a position of reverent worship.”
Any form of challenge to the monarchy was extremely rare under the father of Vajiralongkorn, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on the throne in 2016 after 70 years.
Neither Anon nor any of the Protestants have been accused of violating Thailand’s ‘majesty’ law, which punishes criticism of the monarchy up to 15 years in prison.
However, police said on Friday, August 7, that Anon had been arrested and charged with several crimes in connection with a separate protest on July 18, including “increasing unrest and unrest among the people,” which carries a maximum seven-year sentence.
Anon has denied all charges, said his lawyer Weeranan Huadsri. He was released on bail on Saturday.
The Royal Palace declined to comment on the protests as the more outspoken calls to restrict royal powers.
Defense Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit said: “Do not bring the monarchy into conflict, it is not appropriate. The monarchy is a center of unity for the Thai people. ”
FERGESE UNDER DE RUG
Anon’s open call for reform underscores the extent and speed of change in Thailand, as some members of a new generation adopt an establishment linked to the close relationship between the palace and the army. The king, a former army officer, is officially the commander of the army.
“This is an issue that people want to talk about,” said Patsalawalee Tanakitwiboonpon, a 24-year-old engineering student at Mahanakorn University, who helped plan and spoke at the protest on Monday. ‘It’s been floating under the carpet for so long. That we think it is better if we can talk rationally and openly about this problem. ”
The latest series of protests has grown from a handful of peaceful, online-organized flash mobs, mostly on university campuses, to dozens of street demonstrations in Thailand and millions of people following hashtags online like #FreeYouth.
The response from authorities, so far, has been limited. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who first seized power in a military coup in 2014, told reporters on August 4, the day after Anon’s speech, that the government was open to talks with the students. He said on June 15 that the king had not demanded prosecution under the law of majesty.
Army chief Apirat Kongsompong was not so suspicious. In a speech to cadets on August 5, he said, “COVID is a curable disease, but hate the nation, hate one’s own country, this is a disease that has not been cured.”
On August 4, the day after the protest, Anon told Reuters he was “not too worried” about being arrested. He had planned to speak about the monarchy in the coming days in two further protests, according to his Facebook page.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Police declined to say who had complained or described the nature of the complaints.
Police did not explain why Anon was not charged under the law of majesty for his speech during the August 3 protest.
INSIDE HISTORY
Although King Vajiralongkorn spends much of his time in Germany, his image continues to thrive in Thailand. Gold-framed royal portraits look down on city streets. Cinemas play a royal folk song that audiences of all ages are expected to enjoy.
Many Thai conservatives say the link between monarchy and army is a guarantee of stability. The army strongly supports the palace’s position as Thailand’s highest moral authority, with its head taking an unusual public oath last year to support only a government that supports the monarchy.
Some analysts say the military is using its close association with the monarchy to justify its prominent role in Thai politics. Ex-Army Chief Prayuth has appointed three retired military leaders to cabinet positions and more than a third of Senate seats are held by current as well as former military officers.
Meanwhile, the king has strengthened his constitutional powers since taking the throne in 2016. In his speech, Anon gave two examples of the king’s attacking forces that he described as incompatible with democracy: the Prayuth government handed over two army units to the king’s personal control in 2019 and the relocation of the great move the crown in the name of the king in 2017.
“Yes, I’m scared, but if we do not speak out to talk about what is needed, the problems will continue,” said student Thanapol Panngam, 27, one of the organizers of Monday’s protest.
So far, only a handful of dozens of student protest groups have publicly criticized the monarchy, but they are united in demanding change following a controversial election last year that allowed former junta leader Prayuth to retain power. Critics say the pre-election was determined by rules written by the military that automatically gave Prayuth a significant number of votes. Prayuth says the mood was honest.
“Our main ideology is to promote democracy,” said Jutatip Sirikhan, 21, president of the Student Union of Thailand, which helped organize the protests and did not criticize the palace.
The protests began around the beginning of this year, after courts banned the opposition Future Forward party, which emerged from obscurity to a surprisingly strong third place in elections, helped by broad youth support for its call for dominance of the army over the country’s politics.
“How is the weather in Germany?” read one poster at one of the first campus protests in Bangkok in February, a seemingly innocent question, but one that most Thais would recognize as a reference to Vajiralongkorn spending more time in Bavaria than Bangkok.
Then the new coronavirus stopped the protests when Thailand closed.
But from their phones and laptops at home, the activists kept up the pressure online – and with it the demand for the monarchy.
In March, #whydoweneedaking? was used more than 1 million times on Thai-language Twitter. A Thai-language Facebook group that has frequently mocked the monarchy has attracted more than 850,000 members.
During the lockdown, the students also plan their next moves. “There were Zoom meetings that would involve more than a dozen people, and they would go on for hours,” Jutatip recalls.
Protestants appeared on the streets of force again on July 18, fueled by anger over economic pain caused by the collapse in tourism due to the coronavirus and the apparent abduction of a captive Thai activist – the last of several to disappear. Human rights groups say Wanchalearm Satsaksit, 37, was seized by unknown assailants in Cambodia in June and has not been seen since. The government and military have denied involvement.
Back to the 70s
The latest demonstrations led by the youth resemble student movements of pro-democracy of the 1970s, some analysts say.
Thailand has seen repeated cycles of military intervention: there have been 13 successful coups since the end of absolute royal rule in 1932. King Bhumibol intervened in 1973 and 1992 to stop tensions after invasions by military rulers protested and killed.
Not all young Thais are on the same side. Pro-democracy protests have met with royalist defenders of the government setting up their own, smaller rallies.
“Many Thais have concerns about offensive things against the monarchy,” said Totsapol Manoonyarat, a royalist former vocational student who said he was inspired by the king’s love to take part in a counter-protest in Bangkok.
Strong divisions pose a dilemma for the government, some analysts say.
“If they divert criticism, they run the risk of falling behind,” said Matthew Wheeler, senior analyst at Southeast Asia for the International Crisis Group. “But if they let it slip, there’s a risk that it’s going to taboo.”
Report by Panu Wongcha-um and Kay Johnson in Bangkok; Edited by Matthew Tostevin and Bill Rigby
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