Thai protesters facing royal defamation charges
BANGKOK — Pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand took to the streets of the capital again Wednesday as the government escalated its legal battle against them, reviving the use of a harsh law against defaming the monarchy.
Their rally was peaceful, but less than two hours after it was declared over and many in the crowd were lingering, a man was shot and wounded, according to initial reports of emergency service personnel and witnesses’ accounts and photos posted on social media.
It wasn’t clear whether the attack involved a personal dispute or politics.
On Tuesday, police issued summonses for 12 protest leaders to answer charges of defaming or insulting key members of the royal family. The offense is punishable by up to 15 years in prison per incident.
Most of the protest leaders are already facing various other charges ranging from blocking traffic to sedition.
The law is controversial because anyone — not just royals or authorities — can lodge a complaint, and it has been used in the past as a weapon in political vendettas.
But it has not been employed for the past three years after King Maha Vajiralongkorn informed the government that he did not wish to see its use. The king has not publicly commented on the law since then.
The protesters want the monarchy reformed to make it more accountable. They also want Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his government to step down and for the military-implemented constitution to be amended to make it more democratic.
Several of the leaders wanted by the police were present Wednesday as protesters gathered in a carnival-like atmosphere next to the headquarters of a bank controlled by the country’s royal family.
About 3,000 had joined by the time the rally was declared over shortly after 9 p.m., with the crowd singing and dancing.
Many in the months-long protest movement, spearheaded by students, believe the monarchy holds too much power for a constitutional monarchy.
Their challenge is fiercely opposed by royalists, including many in the army, who consider the royal institution an untouchable bedrock of national identity.
Food and souvenir vendors set up tables on a long stretch of sidewalk along the rim of a park-like compound occupied by the Siam Commercial Bank. Items featuring the image of a yellow rubber duck, a movement icon, could be seen almost everywhere.
One protest leader gave a fiery speech from a truck-bed stage while wearing a duck costume.
The ducks became a symbol of resistance last week when human-size inflatable ducks were brought to a rally outside Parliament and satirically dubbed the protesters’ navy.
When police turned water
cannons on them, the ducks served as makeshift shields.
At a ceremony at a park in another part of Bangkok, at least 600 to 700 supporters of the monarchy gathered for an appearance by the king, dressed in a white formal uniform. He and Queen Suthida took part in a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 1925 death of King Vajiravudh, whose statue is in front of Lumphini Park.
In the past month, the royal couple have been making appearances where members of the public can see them face to face, an evident attempt to shore up support for the royal institution.
The site of Wednesday’s prodemocracy rally was changed late Tuesday night by the protesters. It was earlier announced that it would be held outside the offices of the Crown Property Bureau, which manages the fortune controlled by the king, estimated to be worth more than $40 billion.
The target was switched to the Siam Commercial Bank, a publicly held company in which the king is the biggest shareholder. The bank’s headquarters are in a different area of Bangkok, far from the district hosting the Crown Property Bureau and other royal and government offices.