Protesters march in Spain demanding rapper's release

lèse-majesté & lèse-poli

cia 

Hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday rallied in cities across Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona, calling for the release of a controversial rapper, jailed in mid-February for tweets criticising the royal family and the security forces.

© OSCAR DEL POZO The march in Madrid on Saturday passed off peacefully before the crowds dispersed at the request of the police

© J. Martin Known for his hard-left views, rapper Pablo Hasel was handed a nine-month sentence over tweets glorifying terrorism and videos inciting violence

Shouting slogans such as "Freedom for Pablo Hasel" and "We are the anti-fascists", several hundreds of people took to the streets in the Spanish capital in an unregistered demonstration, according to an AFP reporter.

© OSCAR DEL POZO Rallies were also planned in other Spanish cities such as Barcelona and Palma de Majorca

AFP

3/20/2021 

The march passed off peacefully before the crowds dispersed at the request of the police.

In Barcelona, the main focal point of protests last month, around 100 people marched, waving banners demanding "complete amnesty for Pablo Hasel".

Here, too, the march remained peaceful, in contrast to the demonstrations last month when protesters and police clashed violently.

Rallies were also planned in other Spanish cities such as Palma de Majorca on Saturday.

Known for his hard-left views, Hasel was handed a nine-month sentence over tweets glorifying terrorism and videos inciting violence.

The court ruling said freedom of expression could not be used "as a 'blank cheque' to praise the perpetrators of terrorism".

The rapper was also fined about 30,000 euros ($36,000) for insults, libel and slander for tweets likening former king Juan Carlos I to a mafia boss and accusing police of torturing and killing demonstrators and migrants.

So far, more than 100 people were arrested in the protests, and scores more injured in the clashes, among them many police officers and a young woman who lost an eye after being hit by a foam round fired by police.

The clashes have also sparked a political row that has exacerbated a divide within Spain's leftwing coalition, which groups the Socialists of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the hard-left Podemos.

While the Socialists have firmly opposed the violence, Podemos' leadership has backed the protesters.

The party emerged from the anti-austerity "Indignados" protest movement that occupied squares across Spain in 2011. Their position is that the Hasel case exposes Spain's "democratic shortcoming

In Thailand, protesters take aim at King Vajiralongkorn's royal funding machine:
The Crown Property Bureau

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

POSTMODERN FUEDALISM
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida greet their royalists as they leave a religious ceremony to commemorate the death of King
Chulalongkorn, known as King Rama V, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, Oct 23, 2020.
Reuters

Thailand’s oldest bank, Siam Commercial Bank, faced a political and financial reckoning of sorts in September when youth-led pro-democracy protesters launched a campaign to have people withdraw money from the bank and boycott it.

The move was part of protesters’ demands to reform the monarchy by attacking the king’s own privy purse. King Maha Vajiralongkorn , or Rama X, is currently the biggest shareholder of the bank – which was founded by his great grandfather, King Rama V, in 1907.

In monetary terms, Siam Commercial Bank, which is one of Thailand’s largest commercial financial institutions, has yet to feel the pinch of the activists’ initiatives, but the campaign trained a spotlight on how the king accumulates and spends his fortune, adding pressure on the traditionally revered monarchy like never before.

Pro-democracy protesters initially planned to march on Wednesday to the office of the Crown Property Bureau, a quasi-governmental institution that manages the king’s wealth, to stage a peaceful and symbolic demonstration. Protesters later changed the location to the Siam Commercial Bank’s headquarters.

Pro-reform movement leader Anon Nampa said the group’s demands include the repeal of the 2018 royal amendment on the crown property act, so as to prevent the monarch spending his wealth at his discretion and to initiate public oversight of the king’s purse.

By doing so, “regardless of how many future kings there will be, the assets of the nation will not be lost”, he said on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

Read AlsoThai protesters openly criticise monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn


Thai police on Tuesday summoned seven leaders of the protests, including Anon, to face charges of lèse-majesté, or insulting the monarchy, over comments made at demonstrations in September. The charges carry prison terms of up to 15 years, but the protesters have until November 30 to answer the summonses.

One of the seven, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, said his family had received a summons on the charges and he was not worried.

“This will expose the brutality of the Thai feudal system to the world,” he said. “We will keep fighting.”

Since ascending the throne in 2016 after the death of his father, King Bhumibol , King Vajiralongkorn has overturned the traditional role of the Crown Property Bureau as an investment arm of the royal family, putting all of the assets that had been under its control under his own name in 2018.

Read AlsoTesting royal taboos: Inside Thailand's new youth protests


Even though the assets have since been subject to taxes and are still managed by the bureau, this has not prevented the protesters from demanding an investigation and overhaul of the king’s financial conduct.

The king has appointed trusted confidantes to lead the bureau, including ultraroyalist former army chief Apirat Kongsompong as deputy director, making a public audit impossible – even by the military-backed government of Prayuth Chan-ocha .

The 2018 legal amendment allowed the king to appoint and remove all board members, where the bureau’s board of directors previously answered to the finance minister.

Other questions related to the public accounting of the king’s spending have also arisen.

Read AlsoBiggest Thai protest in years cheers calls to reform monarchy


During the Thai parliament’s fiscal budget debate in September, Bencha Saengchantra, an opposition MP from the Move Forward Party, questioned how the government budget in support of the king’s personal cavalry and helicopter units could overlap with the budget for the armed force branches for the same services.

“We have raised questions about the budget related to the monarchy, but we never really get the clarification we need, even when the country is mired in economic hardship,” she said.

For many Thais, resentment towards the monarchy has been deepened by the country’s economic performance – GDP is expected to contract by more than 7 per cent this year – while millions are forced out of jobs in tourism and manufacturing.

Yet the king’s months-long stay at a luxury resort in Bavaria, Germany, during the pandemic has been in the headlines everywhere outside Thailand.

Read AlsoThai PM 'concerned' after student protest new demands on monarchy

“What makes this particularly egregious is that the king lives lavishly abroad on funds derived from taxes and income generated by Thais,” said Tamara Loos, a professor in Thai and Southeast Asian studies at Cornell University.

“In addition to the funds generated by the Crown Property Bureau, Thais pay for over US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) in costs generated by the monarchy to support the salaries of the staff working in the Royal Household Bureau, plus funds to provide for royal security and royal rural development projects.

“That alone is a major conflict of interest: using public funding to support a repressive monarch who does not appear to have the best interests of his population in mind,” she said.

Loos estimates that the king’s shares in Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Cement Group and other property holdings are worth about US$40 billion, although she added that “the total amount varies between US$30 billion and US$70 billion – the point being that no one really knows because it is not subject to public oversight”.

Read AlsoThailand tells universities to stop students' calls for monarchy reform


Siam Commercial Bank and Siam Cement Group were hit hard during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, according to a paper by the late Thai academic Porphant Ouyyanont, but bounced back upon the appointment of the Crown Property Bureau’s director at the time as the chairman of both companies – a move “designed to restore confidence … by linking them directly with the power and prestige of the Bureau”.

“Thanks to the royal ideology that [King Bhumibol] was a frugal man, no one really paid attention to how he accumulated wealth for himself and his family,” said Puangchon Unchanam, a political science lecturer at Naresuan University.

But Forbes magazine’s publication of its richest royals list in the early 2000s, which included the Thai royal family, “changed everything” for Thais, he said.

“Suddenly, some people started to wonder how the Thai king topped the world’s ranking of richest royals,” he said.

Read AlsoPro-monarchy groups spruce up police headquarters in Thailand


“The status of the CPB has become more awkward,” Puangchon said. “On the one hand, it still maintains all the political privileges it has received from the government. On the other hand, it looks more like a private company that is solely owned by the king.”

In effect, Paungchon said, the changes in the management of the Crown Property Bureau effected by the king were a rollback of normal ethics practised by most big businesses.

“It has become more difficult for the public to access the Crown Property Bureau’s annual performance, income, asset, and profit,” he said, since the king put the assets of the bureau under his name. “It looks more like a merchant’s company in the era before the introduction of the stock market than a modern corporation in the age of global capitalism.”

Loos, the Cornell University professor, said protesters’ demands for the reform of the king’s wealth management had a precedent in the era following the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, when the Thai state divided royal property into those properties which belonged to the king and “those deemed state property such as the palaces, and those business units used to finance the institution of the monarchy, which were placed under the Crown Property Bureau” in 1936.


Read Also'Illegal thoughts': How some exiled critics of Thai king are fuelling a revolt


Puangchon said the king’s motive in transferring the Crown Property Bureau’s assets into his own name had parallels to when King Rama VII, in the years before the 1932 revolution, transferred his assets to overseas banks to safeguard them against political instability. “Regardless of how the political situation unfolds under his reign”, he said, the current king “has to own the crown property personally and absolutely”.

This month, King Vajiralongkorn donated royal title deeds worth around 10 billion baht (S$443 million) to four Bangkok educational institutions in a move seen to reduce the pressure on the monarchy.

Ideally, if the king were to relinquish some of his powers and assets, or agree to the protesters’ demands for reform, it would “decrease his wealth and political power, but potentially increase the cultural capital of the monarchy as an institution, which has precipitously declined in terms of popularity and respect”, Loos said.

This article was first published in South China Morning Post.

Thai pro-democracy leaders summoned over royal defamation

Tue, 24 November 2020

Thai pro-democracy leaders summoned over royal defamation

Student-led pro-democracy protests are testing Thailand's royal defamation law, one of the harshest in the world

Twelve Thai pro-democracy protest leaders have been summoned by police to answer charges of royal defamation, the first use of the draconian law in almost three years, as Bangkok gears up for another major rally.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha last week gave the green light for authorities to lay lese majeste charges, which bar any criticism of the royal family, against demonstrators who could now face up to 15 years in prison.

Thailand has for months been rocked by youth-led protests demanding a new constitution, reform of the untouchable monarchy, and for Prayut to resign.

Tensions in the Thai capital are rising -- officers deployed water cannon and tear gas at a rally outside parliament last week, with 55 people injured and six shot in scuffles with royalists. The source of the gunfire is under investigation.

Anti-royal graffiti was also daubed around police headquarters in central Bangkok, and demonstrators threw paint at the compound.

Thailand has one of the harshest royal defamation laws in the world. It is routinely interpreted to include any criticism of the monarchy -- including content posted or shared on social media.

Under section 112 of Thailand's penal code -- which authorities have not invoked since early 2018 -- anyone convicted of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen or heir faces between three and 15 years in prison on each count.

- Major rally -

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights says 12 protest leaders have received a summons -- among them human rights lawyer Anon Numpha, Panupong "Mike" Jaadnok and prominent student leaders Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul and Parit "Penguin" Chiwarak.

"I'm not scared just one bit and I believe that by being sent the 112 summons, it will bring out more people to (Wednesday's) rally," Parit told AFP.

"Does this mean the monarchy has declared an all-out war with the people, is that right?"

Protesters last week announced they would rally outside the headquarters of the Crown Property Bureau on Wednesday.

But overnight they flagged they would switch the protest to the main office of the Siam Commercial Bank -- in which the king is a major shareholder -- to avoid potential clashes with a rival ultra royalist rally.

Soon after coming to power following his father's death in 2016, the new king took control of the Crown Property Bureau which has assets in banks, companies and prime real estate.

The bureau's board was previously headed by the finance minister in an arrangement that gave a sheen of public oversight to a trust some experts estimate is worth $30-$60 billion.

The full assets are privately held and remain a closely guarded secret.

bur-lpm/jfx/hg

Thousands of anti-government protesters giving 'Hunger Games' salutes defy a ban on mass gatherings in Thailand
Sophia Ankel  Oct 17, 2020, 

Pro-democracy protesters show the three-finger salute as they gather demanding the government to resign and to release detained leaders in Bangkok, Thailand on October 15, 2020. Reuters/Jorge Silva

Protests have erupted in Thailand as anti-government demonstrators demand democratic reforms, the removal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, and curbs on the royal family's power and budget.

 King Maha Vajiralongkorn is famous for his mistresses, crop tops, and globetrotting ways.

 The student-led protests defied a government-issued emergency decree on Thursday, which banned large gatherings of more than five people.

 Protesting against royal reforms is extremely dangerous in Thailand, which has some of the strictest lèse-majesté (to do wrong to majesty) laws in the world.

In the last week, Thailand has seen some of its biggest anti-government protests in decades as thousands of students took to the streets to demand democratic reforms.

Protesters are demanding the removal of Prime Minister and former military leader Pray uth Chan-o-cha.

They are also calling for curbs on the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, a ruler famous for his mistresses, crop tops, and globetrotting ways.

Thailand has some of the strictest lèse-majesté (to do wrong to majesty) laws in the world, with some protesters facing up to 15 years in prison if charged.

Pro-democracy protests have erupted again in Thailand despite a government emergency decree that has banned large gatherings.

Pro-democracy protesters show the three-finger salute as they gather demanding the government to resign and to release detained leaders in Bangkok, Thailand on October 15, 2020. Reuters/Jorge Silva
Source: BBC

The main symbol used by protesters has been the three-finger salute, similar to the one used in the popular film franchise "The Hunger Games."

Pro-democracy protesters demanding the government to resign in Bangkok, Thailand on October 15, 2020. Reuters/Jorge Silva

People have been urged to use the three-finger salute during the national anthem, which is usually played in public spaces such as train stations, twice a day.

Source: The Guardian

The student-led protest movement has been ongoing ever since the country's prime minister, Prayuth Chan-o-cha, was appointed after controversial elections in 2019.

An anti-government demonstrator skates over an image of Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha during a Thai anti-government mass protest in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 14, 2020. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

Chan-o-cha, who is a former army chief, first seized power in a 2014 coup.

Source: BBC

Protesters have since been calling for the government's dissolution and for democratic reforms.

Pro-democracy protestors confront police at a rally at the Ratchaprasong intersection on October 15, 2020, in Bangkok, Thailand. Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images


But it's not just the prime minister that people are protesting against. In recent months the demonstrators have also started calling for curbs on the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

An image of King Maha Vajiralongkorn is seen as pro-democracy demonstrators march during an anti-government mass protest in Bangkok, Thailand on October 14, 2020. Jorge Silva/Reuters
Source: BBC

King Vajiralongkorn reportedly fled the country months ago, spending lockdown in a four-star hotel in the Bavarian Alps with an entourage of 20 women. His absence prompted Thai resident to tweet: "Why do we need a king?" over one million times

Exterior view of the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl. © Leuchtende Hotelfotografie/Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl

Vajiralongkorn has been the King of Thailand since his father died in 2016. With an estimated net worth of $30 billion, Vajiralongkorn is the world's wealthiest ruler as of 2020.

Before his coronation, the King married his longtime partner and personal bodyguard, Maha Vajiralongkorn, in a surprise ceremony.

However, in July, he bestowed the title of Royal Noble Consort to Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, a former army nurse believed to be another longtime girlfriend. She was later spotted wearing a crop top and piloting a plane, according to pictures released by Reuters.

Source: Insider

Protesting against royal reforms is extremely dangerous in Thailand, which has some of the strictest lèse-majesté (to do wrong to majesty) laws in the world.

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn presides over the annual royal ploughing ceremony at the Sanam Luang park in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 9, 2019. Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, heir-apparent or regent" in the country can face up to 15 years in prison on each charge, according to the Guardian.
Source: The Guardian


More than 20 people have been arrested this week, including three protest leaders.

A Thai police chief speaks to pro-democracy protestors while they rally on October 15, 2020, in Bangkok, Thailand. Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

Prominent protest leader Parit Chiwarak, otherwise known as Penguin, was also arrested.
"For our future, we demand three things. First, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-0-cha must resign. Second, we want to rewrite the constitution, and third, we demand reformation of the entire monarchy," Chiwarak told the Guardian last week.
Source: The Guardian

Protesters have also been wearing white ribbons and chanting "Free our friends!" in reference to those detained in the crackdown.

A protester makes a white ribbon as a symbol of peace in front of a police officer during anti-government protests in Bangkok, Thailand on October 15, 2020. Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Source: BBC

Thousands of people defied the emergency decree hours after it was issued on Thursday, gathering in Bangkok's busy Ratchaprasong intersection.

Pro-democracy protestors attend a rally at the Ratchaprasong intersection on October 15, 2020, in Bangkok, Thailand. Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

People were chanting "release our friends" and called police "slaves of dictatorship", according to the Guardian. Deputy police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoe said student leaders who had called for a protest on Thursday were "clearly breaking the law," the paper reported.
Source: The Guardian


In response, a large force of police officers in riot gear were sent to the streets to advance on protesters. Although the protest was mainly peaceful, pictures from the scene did show some clashes and a handful of protesters being arrested.

Police officers march in position behind riot shields in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 15, 2020. Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha TPX Images of the Day
Source: BBC

"Like dogs cornered, we are fighting till our deaths," Panupon Jadnok, one of the protest leaders told crowds on Thursday. "We won't fall back. We won't run away. We won't go anywhere."

Pro-democracy protesters show the three-finger salute as they gather demanding the release of detained leaders in Bangkok, Thailand on October 15, 2020. Reuters/Jorge Silva
Source: The Guardian

 

Thailand’s protest movement gains momentum amid a government crackdown

Thai protesters defied a ban on large gatherings to call for the prime minister’s resignation.

By Cameron Peters@jcameronpeterscameron.peters@voxmedia.com  Oct 17, 2020

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Protesters attend a rally on October 17, 2020, in Bangkok, Thailand. This rally marks the latest in a string of anti-government protests that began in late July, as students and protesters call for governmental reform.

 Getty Images

In Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, tens of thousands took part in continuing pro-democracy protests following a government crackdown Friday, which saw riot police unleash water cannons containing a chemical irritant on crowds calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Protests against the prime minister began in March this year, following the dissolution of a popular pro-democracy party, but have dramatically increased in size this week, with crowds numbering in the tens of thousands.

The government responded to these growing protests with an emergency decree on Thursday, which banned groups of more than five people and gave police the authority to make areas of Bangkok off limits to protesters. Along with this new measure have come the arrests of protesters, including a human rights lawyer and several student activists.

The protesters have released several demands, chief among them that the prime minister resign. A former general, Prayuth seized power in a 2014 military coup. A new constitution was put in place by military leaders three years later that sets aside parliament seats for military officials — so many that protesters argue the prime minister will maintain power regardless of the outcome of elections.

As Panu Wongcha-um reported for Reuters, protesters made three demands in July: “the dissolution of parliament, an end to harassment of government critics, and amendments to the military-written constitution.”

Demonstrators are still working towards those goals, but increasingly, protesters are demanding changes to the country’s monarchy as well.

As Richard Bernstein has explained for Vox, citizens of Thailand have traditionally avoided statements that could be seen as critical of the royal family, which is currently led by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, due to the country’s “lèse-majesté laws, which outlaw ‘defaming, insulting, or threatening’ of a member of the royal family.”

That has changed: For example, at an August protest, a student protest leader gave a speech accusing the government of “fooling us by saying that people born into the royal family are incarnations of gods and angels,” and asking, “Are you sure that angels or gods have this kind of personality?”

The king, who ascended to the throne four years ago, rules largely from Europe, but has nevertheless spent extravagantly and “steadily amassed power” in a way that harks back to the bygone days of Thailand’s absolute monarchy, according to the Economist. His support for the prime minister has frustrated Prayuth’s critics, and his successful efforts to bring royal wealth and military forces under his direct control have led some protesters to call for new limits on the monarchy’s powers.

Arrests for breaching the country’s lèse-majesté laws have continued, and Friday, two protesters were charged under an obscure law for “an act of violence against the queen’s liberty,” — in this case, for yelling near Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya’s motorcade. The two protesters face a potential sentence of life in prison for “endangering the royal family.”

These charges — as well as threats from the prime minister — have not deterred the protesters. After Friday’s police offensive, the demonstrations that continued Saturday appear to have remained largely peaceful — and were well-attended despite a shutdown of Bangkok public transit. As many as 23,000 people turned out at several locations around the city, according to a police estimate reported by the Bangkok Post.

“The goal is to change the whole political system, including the monarchy and the prime minister,” one Bangkok student told the New York Times.

A democratic legitimacy crisis

As Vox’s Zeeshan Aleem explained in August, Thailand’s protests hinge on the tenuous legitimacy of the current government.

Though current prime minister Prayuth ostensibly won another mandate in 2019, the results of that election are disputed. Since then, a major opposition party has been disbanded by the courts, and pro-democracy activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit was reported as disappeared in Cambodia, possibly taken on the orders of the Thai government.

Wanchalearm hasn’t been seen since his abduction in June, and Jakrapob Penkair, another dissident living in exile, told the BBC in July that Wanchalearm, also known as Tar, was likely dead.

“I think the message is: ‘Let’s kill these folks. These are outsiders, these are people who are different from us and they should be killed in order to bring Thailand back to normalcy,’” Jakrapob said. “But nothing could be more wrong in that interpretation. I believe their decision to kidnap and murder Tar, and others before him, has been subconsciously radicalizing the people.”

The protest movement has been fueled by student activism, but lacks defined leadership, according to the BBC. That’s by design — activists have reportedly drawn inspiration from decentralized pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in order to maintain momentum amid arrests.

In part in order to circumvent restrictions on speech, activists have also relied on pop culture symbolism at protests. According to Aleem,

Protesters have used creative methods drawn from the world of popular fiction to veil their criticism of the government and mitigate charges for violating restrictions on political speech. For example, some protesters have dressed up as characters from Harry Potter in order to advance their arguments against the government and monarchy. Other pro-democracy protesters display three-finger salutes inspired by the Hunger Games series.

The Thai government’s crackdown on protesters has been condemned by multiple international organizations. Human Rights Watch, for instance, argued that the ban on protests, as well as other new restrictions, meant that “rights to freedom of speech and holding peaceful, public assemblies are on the chopping block from a government that is now showing its truly dictatorial nature.” Amnesty International has decried the arrests of protesters as an intimidation tactic.

It’s unlikely that the protest movement will stop soon, though — even if the government’s response begins to echo the violent anti-protest crackdowns Bangkok saw in the 1970s.

“The dictatorship must be confronted by the people, even under the threat of arrest,” activist Panupong Jadnok told the Washington Post. “We won’t step back. We will fight until our death.”

Demands For Democratic Reform Surge In Thailand

August 17, 20206:27 AM ET


MICHAEL SULLIVAN

Lighted cellphones held up by demonstrators calling for an end to the military backed government, in Bangkok, Sunday.Michael Sullivan/NPR

Thousands of Thais gathered on Sunday in the capital, Bangkok, for the largest anti-government demonstration since the 2014 coup that brought the military to power.

Protesters, many dressed in black, thronged the streets around the Democracy Monument at the intersection of Ratchadamnoen Avenue and Dinso Road.

Many chanted "down with dictatorship" and "the country belongs to the people" as they displayed the three-fingered gesture of defiance popularized by the Hunger Games movies.

Speaker after speaker reiterated the Free People movement's core demands: that coup leader turned prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his government step down, that a new constitution be written and that Thailand end harassment of government critics.

Some also called for curbs on the political influence of Thailand's powerful monarchy.

The monarchy has long been the country's most revered institution and any criticism of it carries serious consequences. Thailand's lèse-majesté law calls for prison terms of up to 15 years for defaming or insulting the royal family. A few weeks ago, however, protesters began calling for reforms to make it more like constitutional monarchies in other countries.

Members of a musical group performing at Sunday's pro-democracy demonstration in Bangkok make a gesture of resistance popularized by the Hunger Games movies.Michael Sullivan/NPR

Thailand's current king, Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne following the death of his much loved and admired father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who ruled for seven decades. Vajiralongkorn spends almost all his time abroad, primarily in Germany.


Last week, at another student rally at Thammasat University on the outskirts of Bangkok, more than 3,000 people turned out to hear student leaders outline a ten-point manifesto for reforming the monarchy. Much of the mainstream Thai media ignored or gave short shrift to this dramatic turn of events, fearful of angering the palace.

Some Thais worried that Sunday's huge gathering in Bangkok might end in a confrontation between students and ultra-royalists furious with the students' demands. But the six-hour plus event was a peaceful and often joyous affair. Both the organizers and the police put the number in attendance at more than 10,000.

There was a small counter-protest by a few dozen arch-monarchists. Dressed in yellow—a color associated with the monarchy—some waved huge Thai flags while others held up photos of the king for the television cameras.

The pro-monarchy group had threatened to stay the entire rally to ensure that the monarchy was not maligned. But most, if not all, dispersed quietly before sunset as the main rally got into full swing with student leaders and others taking turns at the microphone.

"We want a new election and a new parliament from the people," student activist Patsalawalee Tanakitwiboonpon told the gathering, and a "monarchy which is truly under the constitution."

A new generation demands change

The current prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, took office after elections most independent observers agree were rigged in favor of the military backed parties. A newly formed opposition party popular with young people that finished third in the elections was dissolved earlier this year by the constitutional court in a move widely seen as politically motivated. Several leaders of the latest wave of student led protests have been arrested, then released. Police say there are warrants for more than a dozen more.

The student-led protests have been growing in recent months, despite a state of emergency that remains in effect because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But yesterday's demonstration drew a more diverse crowd. Thailand has been largely spared by the virus, with fewer than 4,000 confirmed cases and just 58 deaths. But the economic fallout from a ban on international tourists and a two-month long lockdown have left many Thais out of work and angry with the military backed government.

The students, some analysts say, have seen enough.

"They want their future back," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, who teaches political science at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "They've seen ineffectual, incompetent military government followed by an elected coalition government still backed by the military, leading Thailand to nowhere," he says.

At the end of Sunday's rally, student leaders urged the government to act on their demands within a month or face more rallies. Their enthusiasm caught the imagination of some of the older, more jaded Thais at the rally.

"Even though I'm just, like, a tiny voice, if a lot of us get together I hope we can make a change," said 32-year-old social worker Won, who declined to give her last name. "But I cannot get my hopes too high," she added quickly. "I have had my heart broken many, many times. But I still want to believe. That's why I'm here."

Pro-democracy movement draws thousands in Bangkok

Mostly student protesters demand dissolution of parliament, with some calling for reforms to the monarchy


Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok

Mon 17 Aug 2020 04.37 BST
 

Demonstrators march during a protest demanding the resignation of Thailand’s prime minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, in Bangkok, Thailand. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Thai capital Bangkok to step up demands for political change in one of the biggest protests against the country’s military rulers since the 2014 coup.

At least 10,000 demonstrators, mostly students, gathered at the city’s famous democracy monument on Sunday, some of them calling for reforms to the monarchy.

It follows a month of almost daily rallies that have drawn support from high school and university students across the country.

Protesters – who chanted, “Down with dictatorship, long live democracy” and “Stop harassing the people” – have called for the dissolution of the military-backed government. They have also demanded an end to the intimidation of activists and reforms to the constitution, which was written under military rule. Critics say the constitution unfairly allowed the prime minister, Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who first came to power during the 2014 coup, to win last year’s elections.

A statement released by Free People, a coalition of mostly student-led groups, which organised Sunday’s protests, said it aspired to see “democratic reform of government with the monarch truly under the constitution”.

In recent weeks, students have voiced increasingly direct criticisms of the monarchy, breaching a long-standing taboo.

Last week, at a rally attended by thousands, a protest group issued a 10-point list for reform of the monarchy – a move that shocked many – including allowing criticism of the monarchy, and called for the king’s powers to be curbed.

Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws are among the strictest in the world. Criticising the king can lead to a jail sentence of up to 15 years, though Prayuth has said the king requested that it should not be used at the moment. Such laws also limit media reporting within the country that relates to the royal family.

Parit Chiwarak, a pro-democracy student, talks to the media at the Giant Swing. Photograph: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters  SWING?I THOUGHT IT WAS A GUILLOTINE!

No protesters have been charged under lèse-majesté laws, though three people have been arrested on other charges.


On Sunday, some students carried signs that made reference to the monarchy. One student wore a T-shirt that said: “Send love to Germany.” The king has been criticised by some for spending most of his time in Germany. Others in the crowds carried placards that reiterated previous demands for monarchy reform.

The protests are led by a new generation of emboldened young activists who use social media to mobilise.

“During my time, anybody who was an activist, they were called a redshirt and a low-key bandit or nation hater,” said a protester who graduated from Chulalongkorn University, a more conservative institution, in 2012.

After the 2014 coup, the military-backed government promised that it would offer stability and allow Thailand to prosper. “Such promises have not materialised,” he said, adding that this had left many young people, including students at his former university, feeling compelled to speak out.

On top of frustration over the economy, which was struggling even before the coronavirus pandemic, students say they are fed up with a government they accuse of undermining democracy.

Anger among students flared in February when the government dissolved an opposition party, Future Forward, which was especially popular among young people. Then, reports emerged that pro-democracy activist Wanchalearm Satsaksi had been abducted in Cambodia – the latest of several exiled activists to disappear in recent years. The government and the military have denied involvement.

“I don’t think that human rights can exist in a dictatorship,” said a 22-year-old student who asked not to be named.


In its statement on Sunday, the Free People group said there must be no coup d’état, nor a government of national unity installed.

Prayuth has said he was uncomfortable with comments made about the monarchy, but that he would listen to the concerns in relation to the constitution. Young people should be allowed to express themselves, within the limits of the law and with respect to others’ rights, his spokesperson has said.

Three protesters have been arrested over recent weeks, on charges including sedition, which carries a maximum seven-year sentence, and violating an emergency decree than bans public gatherings. The charges have been condemned by rights groups, who have accused the government of harassing its critics.