How the protests started

Thailand has experienced a history of coups in its past. 2014 was its most recent uprising, allowing the then army General Officer Prayut Chan-o-cha to govern Thailand until the present day. He officially formed his Palang-Pracharath majority government in May 2019 after pushing through an undemocratic constitution in 2017. The constitution allowed him to hand-pick 250 senator seats in parliament which later, along with the 116 seats that he allegedly won in March 2019 election voted to support him as Prime Minister.

Soon after, the Future Forward party; an opposing pro-democratic party appealing to the younger Thai generation and therefore finishing a strong third in the 2019 election was forced to dissolve after the court ruled the leader guilty of a sedition charge. This only served to heighten political tensions, triggering the start of the protests.

The ongoing protests

The first rounds of protests halted due to coronavirus restrictions in late February however protests resumed in July. Whilst the protests were previously led by students, this time, the organisation Free Youth managed to coordinate large demonstrations in Bangkok, creating the three demands in the process. The message has since spread across the country with provinces also joining in the protests.

Besides demanding for the resignation of the governmental institution, the protestors have also included the unprecedented need for the reformation of the monarchy. The build-up of dissatisfaction towards the monarchy is partly due to massive inequality gap as seen with the estimated $40 billion assets owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn compared to the meagre $3000 of an average Thai household annual income as well as because of the world’s strictest lèse-majesté laws. For example, Section 112 of Thailand’s penal code states that whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, heir-apparent or the Regent are punishable with imprisonment of between three to fifteen years.

The 15th of October further increased anti-monarchist views when Queen Suthida and Prince Dipangkorn drove through a crowd of protestors, leading to the arrests of several Thai protestors. The day later, hundreds of protestors took to the streets of Bangkok and were dispersed by water cannons filled with dye and spraying liquid containing an irritant. Filled with immense anger, demonstrators increased in numbers for the following days becoming more coordinated using Telegram, a cryptic communicating app as well as sign languages during the demonstrations to pass down water, umbrellas and raincoats.

Since then, the Prime Minister has begun to employ reconciliation tactics by revoking the emergency decrees. However, it is believed that the protestors will not be accepting this olive branch as they continue to demonstrate and demand “Resign, Rewrite and Reform”.

By Ke Thie Kiew

Thailand's Protests