Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Monarchy decried at Thailand protest
Reform movement led by younger generation
BANGKOK — Thousands of demonstrators defied police warnings and occupied a historic field in Thailand’s capital Saturday to support the demands of a student-led protest movement for new elections and reform of the monarchy.
A fiery late-night speech with harsh criticisms of the royal institution set the crowd abuzz, even though the country has a harsh law that mandates a prison term of three to 15 years for defamation of the monarchy.
The speaker, Arnon Nampha, is a lawyer who broke the taboo on criticism of the monarchy ahead of the pack at a small rally in early August with some mild questions about the institution.
On Saturday night, he recalled how the crowd went silent on that occasion and compared that reaction to the much more enthusiastic reception he was now receiving for significantly more strident remarks.
The protesters, whose rally continued past midnight, had more activities planned for Sunday. They have been purposely vague about a planned march, but Arnon revealed in his speech that the protesters would lay down a plaque dedicated to the power of the people.
That appeared to be an implicit reference to the mysterious disappearance in 2017 of a decades-old bronze plaque that commemorated the 1932 revolution that turned Thailand, then known as Siam, from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy.
Organizers had predicted that as many as 50,000 people would take part in the weekend’s protest. Estimates of attendance at mass political events in Thailand are notoriously unreliable, but Saturday’s crowd appeared as big as any protest held at that venue in the past three decades.
“The people who came here today came here peacefully and are really calling for democracy,” said Panupong Jadnok, one of the protest leaders.
The core demands declared by the protesters in July were the dissolution of parliament, fresh elections, a new constitution and an end to intimidation of political activists. They have held a series of rallies since then.
They believe that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who as then-commander of the army led a 2014 coup toppling an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election because the laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party. A constitution promulgated under military rule is likewise undemocratic, they charge.
“If we had a good government, a democratic government, our politics, our education and our health care system would be better than this,” said protester Amorn Panurang. “This is our dream. And we hope that our dream would come true.”