10 August 2021

รุ้ง
(‘rainbow’)



This morning, The Commoner released their new single, รุ้ง (‘rainbow’). The title is Panusaya Sithjirawattanakul’s nickname, and the song marks the first anniversary of her speech calling for reform of the monarchy. (Booklets that reprinted the speech were later seized by police.)

The song’s lyrics highlight the moment when Panusaya broke a longstanding taboo by reciting the protesters’ ten-point manifesto: “คืนที่รุ้งทลายเพดาน” (‘the night when Rainbow shattered the ceiling’). The music video is mostly animated, with drawings of yellow ducks (symbolising the protesters) and riot police. A monstrous spider, with a recognisable face, makes a brief appearance.

The band’s EP สามัญชน (‘commoner’) was released in 2019. Panusaya performed guest vocals on their single Commoner’s Anthem (บทเพลงของสามัญชน) earlier this year. She also appeared in Paeng Surachet’s music video กล้ามาก เก่งมาก ขอบใจ (‘very brave, very good, thank you’).

On Monday, another core protest leader, Arnon Nampa, was charged with lèse-majesté following a speech he gave on 3rd August marking the first anniversary of a rally he organised. Arnon was denied bail, along with several other protest leaders (including Parit Chirawak and Panupong Jadnok) who were also arrested over the past few days.