Written by Elizabeth Khor and edited by Clarissa Kim
Thai Citizens are protesting against their Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the Thai monarchy. They’ve been screaming and yelling for months, trying to make their voices heard, yet not much has changed. These people have been living under the military junta ever since 2014, when a coup d'etat was staged by Prayut Chan-o-cha, the head of the Royal Thai Army at the time. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), also called the military junta was in power until 2019. Although a new party has been elected, Prayut Chan-o-cha remains the prime minister.
The people of Thailand are finally protesting against Prayut Chan-o-cha because he restricts many of their freedoms. Specifically, their freedom of speech. In the United States of America, Australia, France and many other countries, citizens are able to criticise their government, and post memes about them. However, in places like Thailand, the government does not take criticism lightly. In Thailand, they have a lese-majeste law, one of the strictest in the world which criminalises those who insult the monarchy, with many receiving harsh jail sentences. However, some political activists are not jailed, but have instead disappeared mysteriously after making internet broadcasts criticising not only the monarch, but also the military government. In late 2018, two men who had criticised the government went missing in Laos. A few months later, they were found in the Mekong river in Thailand, dead and weighted. Locations of many political activists are still unknown. Although technically, these deeds were never proven to be the actions of the government, it is commonly known to be taboo to speak out against the government. Through the sudden explosion of protests, it is clear that Thai citizens are fed up with these restrictions.
There are more reasons that have led to the residents standing up for their beliefs, their rights and themselves. The event that lit the match was the dissolution of the Future Forward Party, an alternative to traditional politics. This party was favoured by the upcoming generation and opposed the military junta. Support for the Future Forward Party’s was clear when they won the third-most parliamentary seats at the 2019 election. They were popular among the youth and were considered progressive. Therefore, when they had to disband in February of 2020, protests erupted from universities, high schools and colleges.
The protestors are mainly students and young adults, with no singular established leader. Many universities, such as Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, Kasetsart University, began the first wave of protests on the 24th of February, just one day after the decision to disband the Future Forward Party. Hashtags on TikTok and Twitter were used to spread awareness, with each hashtag being unique to their respective institutions. Chulalongkorn University’s hashtag translates to “The pillars will no longer be broken”. Due to COVID-19, these protests were halted and did not continue until the second half of the year.
On the 18th of July, the demonstrations continued with a protest that was hosted by the Free Youth organisation at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. The protestors at this event announced their three demands.
The dissolution of the House
Ending Intimidation of the people
Drafting a new constitution
Following these rallies, speeches and demonstrations popped up all over Thailand, all sharing the same three goals. Citizens spoke publicly about their criticisms of the government, added more demands, and some were arrested. Some of the biggest rallies were predicted to have 100,000 people. Except for a few arrests and detainment, the government had not used their powers to prevent these demonstrations. At least, not yet.
In attempts to prevent these protests, authorities in Bangkok have banned gatherings of five or more people. Using water cannons filled with tear gas and chemical-filled water, the police dispersed many unarmed protest groups. Hundreds of people were arrested if they were associated with these demonstrations. Although the ban has since been lifted, the harm inflicted against the people has not stopped. Firecrackers were thrown at protest rallies and water cannons continued to be used during peaceful protests, inflicting injury against ralliers. Many pro-royalist supporters had even assaulted the pro-democracy protestors, but the government made no attempts to arrest them.
As time flows on, the situations that await the protestors worsen. We see this through the violence inflicted on these protestors as their demonstrations increase in size. The military junta is attempting to crush their spirits and oppress them, but the citizens of Thailand will not allow it. These young Thai protestors have managed to not only organise rallies of thousands of people but have also garnered global attention towards their goals through trending hashtags. Their voices are finally being heard around the world.
Sources:
Cover Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press sourced from the New York Times
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