Anti-Monarchy Protests In Bangkok, Thailand

(Staff article from the ABC NEWS Australia on 16 October 2020.)

Bangkok anti-government protests see riot police use water cannon and shields: Electric blue water with tear gas shot from a water cannon flies over demonstrators during a Bangkok protest. The UN has voiced concern over Thai authorities' harsh response to pro-democracy protests.

Thai police used water cannons and pushed forward with riot shields and batons in an attempt to disperse thousands of protesters who defied a ban on demonstrations for a second day. The protesters had gathered in monsoonal rains to push their core demands, including that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha leave office, the constitution be amended and the nation's monarchy undergo reform.

Protesters pushed back, some using umbrellas, while a few threw plastic bottles at police in full riot gear. "The dictatorial government is using violence to disperse the people's movement," said Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, one of the protest leaders.

"Get out, get out," the protesters chanted as police used the heaviest force yet to stop three months of protests that have challenged King Maha Vajiralongkorn's monarchy as well as demanding the removal of Mr Prayuth, a former military ruler.

Police had earlier closed roads and put up barricades around a major Bangkok intersection where some 10,000 protesters defied a strict new state of emergency on Thursday. The decree outlaws public gatherings of more than five people and bans the dissemination of news that is deemed to threaten national security. It also gives authorities broad powers, including detaining people at length without charge.

"We've issued warnings against illegal acts," police spokesman Yingyot Thepchamnong told reporters. "After this there will be intensive measures in enforcing the law. The legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said at least 51 people have been arrested since Tuesday in connection with the protests.

The state of emergency decree was imposed after some demonstrators heckled a royal motorcade, an unprecedented development in Thailand, where the monarchy is normally held in reverence. On Friday another two activists were arrested under a law covering violence against the Queen for their alleged part in the heckling of the motorcade. They could face up to life in prison if convicted.

The protest movement was launched in March by university students and its original core demands were new elections, changes in the constitution to make it more democratic, and an end to intimidation of activists.

The protesters charge that Mr Prayuth, who as an army commander led a 2014 coup that toppled an elected government, was returned to power unfairly in last year's general election because laws had been changed to favour a pro-military party. But the movement took a stunning turn in August, when students at a rally aired unprecedented criticism of the monarchy and issued calls for its reform.

Using direct language normally expressed in whispers if at all, the speakers criticised the King's wealth, his influence and that he spends much of his time outside the country. Thailand's royal family has long been considered sacrosanct and a pillar of Thai identity.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn and other key members of the royal family are protected by a lese majeste law that has regularly been used to silence critics who risk up to 15 years in prison if deemed to have insulted the institution.

Conservative royalist Thais accuse the protest movement of seeking to end the monarchy, an allegation its leaders deny. Wednesday's incident with the royal motorcade stunned many Thais. Video that circulated widely showed members of a small crowd heckling a motorcade carrying Queen Suthida and Prince Dipangkorn as it slowly passed. It is normal in Thailand for those waiting for a royal motorcade to sit on the ground or lie flat on the ground.

Mr Prayuth's declaration of a state of emergency said the measure was necessary because "certain groups of perpetrators intended to instigate an untoward incident and movement in the Bangkok area by way of various methods and via different channels, including causing obstruction to the royal motorcade".

Mr Prayuth said he has no plans to resign as he had done nothing wrong. He said his Government hopes it can drop the state of emergency ahead of its normal 30-day duration "if the situation improves quickly".

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was concerned about the situation in Thailand, said Ravina Shamdsani Said, a spokeswoman for commissioner Michelle Bachelet. "We are particularly concerned about the application of serious charges, including the crime of sedition, against individuals for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights," she told a briefing in Geneva.

UN special rapporteur Clement Voule tweeted he was "very worried" about the crackdown on protesters in Thailand. "The government needs to allow protesters to exercise their rights [and] seek dialogue, not suppress them," he said.