Around 2,500 Thai protesters took to the streets of Bangkok on Saturday night demanding the resignation of the government and the dissolution of parliament, challenging the ban on the coronavirus from meetings in one of the largest street demonstrations since a 2014 military coup.
People at the student-led rally near the Bangkok Democracy Monument cited a litany of complaints against the one-year-old civilian government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who ousted an elected government six years ago. .
Organizers issued three demands: the dissolution of parliament, an end to harassment by government critics, and amendments to the constitution written by the military that critics say practically guaranteed the victory of the Prayuth party in last year’s elections. .
“How can we agree to a lack of democracy like this?” Student activist Tattep Ruangprapaikit told the crowd.
There were also some veiled public references in the protest to the powerful Thai monarchy, despite a law prohibiting criticism of the king. Such references would once have been unthinkable.
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Police were on hold but did not move to stop the protest. The monument was cordoned off with signs saying: “You cannot enter without permission. Maintenance in progress.”
The protests started with groups of students, but hundreds more joined the afternoon, bringing the numbers to around 2,500, according to organizers and estimates by journalists on the scene.
The demonstration dispersed around midnight, but organizers said they would return to the streets in two weeks if their demands were not met.
Whose home is Germany?
Public opposition to Prayuth has been growing in recent months.
Since last year’s elections, a court has dissolved the second-largest opposition party, giving its ruling coalition firmer control in parliament.
Prayuth also saw several cabinet members resign on Thursday over internal disputes.
The Prayuth Palang Pracharat Party campaigned on a vision of traditional Thai culture and loyalty to King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Encouraging to see! Demands for responses in cases of enforced disappearance of many #Thais are a central part of today’s protest at the Democracy Monument in #Bangkok. These disappearances are serious human rights violations that demand responsibility and justice! # เยาวชน ปลดแอก #Thailand pic.twitter.com/4yKEdaN6lV
– Phil Robertson (@Reaproy) July 18, 2020
Thailand is officially a constitutional monarchy, but insulting the king is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and many conservatives view the monarchy as sacrosanct.
Some signs and speeches in Saturday’s protest made veiled references to the monarchy.
“This is our country, but who has a home in Germany?” said one of the student leaders on a small stage set up on the street.
King Vajiralongkorn has a farm in Germany, where he spends much of the year.
A protest sign read “Lost Faith is Definitely Not a Crime! #Thiwakorn”, in a reference to a separate protest in Northeast Thailand on Friday in support of a man who was admitted to a mental hospital after using a T-shirt. saying that he had lost faith in the monarchy.
Another banner read “The people’s party is not dead,” a reference to the political party whose revolution ended absolute royal rule in 1932.
Last month, Prayuth publicly warned political activists not to risk their future by criticizing the monarchy.
This year’s earlier protests were fueled by a February court ruling that dissolved a popular opposition political party whose democracy promotion policies had attracted substantial support among Thai youth.
Supporters of the Future Forward party believed that the group was the target of its popularity and of being critical of the government and the military.
The anti-government protests had drawn ever-growing crowds at the time, but they dwindled rapidly when several groups of coronaviruses were confirmed and the emergency law was invoked.
Closing measures and social distancing have helped the government contain the spread of the virus, but it has retained emergency powers, which critics say is a political weapon.
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