BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday he was worried about a growing student protest movement after another group of students gave an unusual frank 10-point call for monarchy reform.
Pro-democracy protesters salute with three fingers as they attend a rally to ask the government to resign, dissolve parliament and hold new elections under a revised constitution, on the Rangsit campus of Thammasat University outside Bangkok , Thailand 10 August 2020 REUTERS / Chalinee Thirasupa
Some 3,000 to 4,000 protesters called for “Long live democracy” at Thammasat University on the outskirts of Bangkok on Monday night, calling for the dismissal of Prayuth, who first took power in a 2014 coup, and an end to it. military domination of politics.
But protesters from a Thammasat University Pro Democracy group also issued a 10-point call for monarchy reform, becoming at least the third student protest group to break a decade-long taboo on questions about its role and powers.
Thailand has strict laws against insulting or apologizing to the king, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Palace officials declined to comment on the students’ protests or any criticism of the monarchy.
Former Army Chief of Staff Prayuth told reporters he had seen the protests.
“Yeah, I saw it, how can I not?” he said when asked about the students’ demands.
“I’m worried,” he said, but did not comment on what concerned him and did not comment on the demands for royal reform.
Prayuth has warned protesters against the involvement of the monarchy in their protests, but said that King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who took the throne after his father’s death in 2016, asked him not to arrest anyone under the “red majesty” laws.
Since the coup in 2014, activists have accused Prayuth of using the army’s close association with the palace to justify its grip on power, including accusations of manipulating election results last year. Prayuth denies the allegations.
The students’ new demands included reversal of an order in 2019 that transferred two army units to the king’s personal command and a 2017 law that gave him full control over the Crown’s extensive holdings. .
Report by Jiraporn Kuhakan and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Written by Kay Johnson; Edited by Robert Birsel
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