Protesting the government

For a government that came to power through a general “election” last March, they sure are salty about people who are telling them to get out. The country has seen numerous protests demanding Uncle Tu to step down and the past few weeks have seen throngs of people collectively declaring just how much they despise the PM. There’s nothing like hearing a pop song become an anthem of defiance (“One, two, three, four, five — I hear too”). The protesters are angry — that’s evident in what they say — but they are peaceful (at the time of going to print). They even cleaned up after themselves (so good that BMA thanked them for it) and let ambulances through. What’s the government’s response to this? Well, they dispatched riot guards and sprayed water laced with blue dye on protesters. They couldn’t even spray water correctly the first time around and ended up spraying it on the police. They’ve also arrested protest leaders and have threatened to arrest anyone who joins the demonstrations. They’ve ordered the closure of transportation services in an attempt — and an unsuccessful one at that — to hinder the protests from happening. They’ve issued a “state of emergency” because there’s nothing more dangerous than a bunch of people gathering, replacing lyrics with swears and then leaving when they said they would and cleaning up after themselves. They’ve also said they’ll arrest anyone who takes a selfie at any protest because hey, if they can control everything, they’ll control your IG feed, too. Oh, and did I mention that as of the writing of this article, they’ve also tried to shut down four Thai news agencies?