Thai protesters defy monarchy with People’s Plaque
Thousands of protesters cheered as activists installed a plaque in Bangkok Sunday declaring that Thailand “belongs to the people” - the boldest show of defiance in a youth-led movement which is questioning the unassailable monarchy’s role in the country.
Thailand has seen near-daily protests for days gone by 8 weeks led by student activists calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who masterminded the 2014 coup.
Demonstrators spent Saturday rallying in Bangkok’s historic Sanam Luang field next to the Grand Palace, where organisers took a more powerful line on reform, calling for the royal family to remain out from the kingdom’s politics.
Authorities said the demonstration drew 18,000, though AFP reporters on the ground estimated a 30,000-strong crowd at its peak - rendering it the major such gathering Thailand has seen because the 2014 coup.
On Sunday at dawn, student activists installed a commemorative “People’s Plaque” in Sanam Luang field.
“Down with feudalism, long live the people,” shouted protest organiser Parit Chiwarak to the cheering crowd.
The new plaque states the date Sept 20, 2020, followed by the proclamation: “The persons have expressed the intention that this country is one of the people, rather than the king.”
The movement is pushing frank questioning of the royal family’s role in to the public - once a taboo topic due to Thailand’s draconian royal defamation laws.
The plaque references the original brass one embedded for many years in the bottom of Bangkok’s Royal Plaza, which commemorated the end of royal absolutism in 1932.
Nonetheless it mysteriously disappeared in 2017 - after King Maha Vajiralongkorn took power following a death of his father - replaced with one bearing a reminder for Thais to remain loyal to the “nation, religion, king”.
Activists say the missing plaque is emblematic of a wider whitewashing of Thai political history.
Palace officials didn't immediately react to requests for comment.
Organisers had at first planned to march to Government House, but a last-minute change of plans saw protesters proceed to the Privy Council’s office - opposite the Grand Palace - to submit a list of demands addressed to the king.
The highly influential board of royal advisors wields significant influence in Thailand.
Dozens of officers stood guard, alongside water cannon trucks before the palace.
- ‘People have woken up’ -
The largely leaderless youth-organised movement, partly inspired by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, is calling for Prayut’s government to be dissolved, a rewrite of the 2017 military-scripted constitution, and for authorities to avoid “harassing” political opponents.
Some factions within the movement also have called for greater accounting of the palace’s finances, the abolition of royal defamation laws and a call for the king to remain outside of politics.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn sits at the apex of Thai power, bolstered by a robust military and conservative establishment.
He spends long periods in Europe, his absence from Thailand raising ire on social media in recent months as the economy tumbled as a result of the pandemic.
The brand new Sanam Luang plaque will be regarded “as an immediate challenge”, said analyst Paul Chambers, warning that the growing acrimony could bring about “state violence against protesters”.
Prayut has said Thailand would be “engulfed in flames” if the students push too much, though he vowed “softer measures” against the weekend’s protesters.
Since 1932, the military has staged greater than a dozen coups following bouts of violent protests - which arch-royalist generals have claimed in the past was essential to defend the king.
The recent wave of demonstrations has up to now been peaceful.
But authorities have arrested a lot more than two dozen activists, charging them with sedition before releasing them on bail.
Protesters have called for another rally Thursday outside parliament as MPs debate potential constitutional changes.
But opposition MP Rangsiman Rome had not been sure if reforms of the monarchy will be on the table.
“MPs are afraid… They’re worried they could get some good problems.”
A general strike in addition has been called for October 14.
“People have woken up,” student Napassorn Saengduean, 20, triumphantly told AFP as Sunday’s rally dispersed.
“I will keep coming back until I die.”
