THE WORLD TODAY

Protesters ramp up calls for king to quit his role

PRO- DEMOCRACY demonstrators in Thailand have marched on the German Embassy to appeal to the government to investigate whether the Thai king has exercised political power during extended stays in Bavaria.

The protesters are demanding their prime minister’s resignation, constitutional changes and reforms to the monarchy.

The scrutiny and public criticism of the monarchy from some protesters are unprecedented in a country where this can be punished by up to 15 years in prison.

It has also led royalists to stage counter- rallies and to denounce the protesters for raising the issue.

The protesters, estimated to number between 5000 and 10,000, defied police warnings that they constituted an illegal assembly and marched to the embassy in an effort to bring attention to the time King Maha Vajiralongkorn spends in Germany.

A statement from the protest group said they presented a letter to embassy officials asking that Germany investigate whether the king “has conducted Thai politics using his royal prerogative from German soil or not”.

It said such action could be considered a violation of Germany’s territorial sovereignty and suggested that its government consider the protesters’ request with the aim of bringing the king back to Thailand to restore the country “to the path of the truthful constitutional monarchy”.

Germany is seen as receptive to their requests and foreign minister Heiko Maas has said the government is following developments in Thailand and will continue to examine it “in the long term” stating that “if there are things we feel to be unlawful, then that will have immediate consequences”.