Anti-government rallies have been held in Bangkok on a daily basis since 14th October, when around 10,000 protesters marched from Democracy Monument to Government House. Around 20,000 people gathered at Ratchaprasong intersection on 15th October, and several thousand at Siam Square on 16th October. On 17th October, protests took place at Udom Suk, Lat Phrao, and Wong Wian Yai. Yesterday, there were rallies at Victory Monument and Asoke.
The protesters, led by two student groups (Free Youth, and the more radical United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration) are calling for a democratic political process: a new constitution and election, free from military interference. Protest slogans include “ai hia Tu”—ai hia is a strong insult, and Tu is Prayut Chan-o-cha’s nickname—though there is also increasingly open criticism of the monarchy. The protests began a few months ago in Bangkok, though there have been smaller rallies in many provinces since then.
The protest leaders were arrested on 15th October, though the rallies have continued regardless. Riot police used water cannon to disperse a rally at Siam Square on 16th October, though this heavy-handed approach brought more protesters onto the streets the following day. The government shut down the entire BTS SkyTrain and MRT subway networks on the weekend of 17th–18th October, in a disproportionate and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to prevent people from joining the rallies.
There has also been an increase in political censorship since the protests began. Today, police raided the offices of Same Sky Books. The publisher’s editor-in-chief, Thanapol Eawsakul, was taken in for questioning, and copies of the latest issue of the Same Sky (ฟ้าเดียวกัน) journal (vol. 18, no. 2) were confiscated. Copies of four books were also seized: ขุนศึก ศักดินา และพญาอินทรี การเมืองไทยภายใต้ระเบียบโลกของสหรัฐอเมริกา 2491–2500 (‘feudal warlords and the eagle: Thai politics and the United States 1948–1957’) and ขอฝันใฝ่ในฝันอันเหลือเชื่อ ความเคลื่อนไหวของขบวนการปฏิปักษ์ปฏิวัติสยาม (พ.ศ. 2475–2500) (‘I dream an incredible dream: the anti-Siamese revolutionary movement 1932–1957’) by Nattapoll Chaiching; and ประชาธิปไตยที่มีกษัตริย์อยู่เหนือการเมือง (‘democracy with the King as head of state’) and โฉมหน้าราชาชาตินิยม (‘royalist-nationalism’) by Thongchai Winichakul.
Notoriously, an issue of the Same Sky journal was banned in 2006. Police also banned the sale of several Same Sky t-shirt designs in 2014. Thanapol was one of many anti-military intellectuals subjected to ‘attitude adjustment’ following the 2014 coup. He was also questioned by the military in connection with the distribution of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra calendars in 2016.
The protesters, led by two student groups (Free Youth, and the more radical United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration) are calling for a democratic political process: a new constitution and election, free from military interference. Protest slogans include “ai hia Tu”—ai hia is a strong insult, and Tu is Prayut Chan-o-cha’s nickname—though there is also increasingly open criticism of the monarchy. The protests began a few months ago in Bangkok, though there have been smaller rallies in many provinces since then.
The protest leaders were arrested on 15th October, though the rallies have continued regardless. Riot police used water cannon to disperse a rally at Siam Square on 16th October, though this heavy-handed approach brought more protesters onto the streets the following day. The government shut down the entire BTS SkyTrain and MRT subway networks on the weekend of 17th–18th October, in a disproportionate and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to prevent people from joining the rallies.
There has also been an increase in political censorship since the protests began. Today, police raided the offices of Same Sky Books. The publisher’s editor-in-chief, Thanapol Eawsakul, was taken in for questioning, and copies of the latest issue of the Same Sky (ฟ้าเดียวกัน) journal (vol. 18, no. 2) were confiscated. Copies of four books were also seized: ขุนศึก ศักดินา และพญาอินทรี การเมืองไทยภายใต้ระเบียบโลกของสหรัฐอเมริกา 2491–2500 (‘feudal warlords and the eagle: Thai politics and the United States 1948–1957’) and ขอฝันใฝ่ในฝันอันเหลือเชื่อ ความเคลื่อนไหวของขบวนการปฏิปักษ์ปฏิวัติสยาม (พ.ศ. 2475–2500) (‘I dream an incredible dream: the anti-Siamese revolutionary movement 1932–1957’) by Nattapoll Chaiching; and ประชาธิปไตยที่มีกษัตริย์อยู่เหนือการเมือง (‘democracy with the King as head of state’) and โฉมหน้าราชาชาตินิยม (‘royalist-nationalism’) by Thongchai Winichakul.
Notoriously, an issue of the Same Sky journal was banned in 2006. Police also banned the sale of several Same Sky t-shirt designs in 2014. Thanapol was one of many anti-military intellectuals subjected to ‘attitude adjustment’ following the 2014 coup. He was also questioned by the military in connection with the distribution of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra calendars in 2016.
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