In Bangkok, young Thai protesters inspired by Hong Kong demand change but fear blowback
- Student-led protests have flickered at campuses across Thailand since last year’s elections, won by former junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha
- Saturday’s event in central Bangkok drew thousands, and appeared to borrow heavily from last year’s massive rallies in Hong Kong for its imagery
But in a country with a grim record of crushing student movements, such a political awakening could prove dangerous for those who followed calls over social media to descend on the capital’s Democracy Monument – a symbolic spot which commemorates the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.
For years, Thailand’s political scene has been dominated by short-lived governments linked to the pro-democracy “red” and pro-establishment “yellow” blocs, and defined by their rival street protests.
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Thousands take to the streets of Thai capital Bangkok to protest against the government
But many of the protesters interviewed for this article, who often only gave one name out of fears for their safety or other repercussions, said they did not follow a colour – instead they are part of a new generation, knitted together by social media, hashtags and memes.
Ice, Bass and Sien, three 18-year-olds from different parts of Thailand who travelled to the capital for their first ever protest on Saturday, said posts they had seen online deconstructing government policy had helped open their eyes to Thailand’s weak education system, faltering economy and restrictive laws on free speech.
“But once I got access to information – knowledge – I realised we have been fooled and oppressed all along. This country is full of secrets and lies – how could they not teach us [at school] about the 1932 revolution?”
Banners held at the protest on Saturday made references to 1932 and the group – later a short-lived political party – whose revolution that year ended direct royal rule.
Fresh demonstrations are planned outside Government House on Monday, activists say.
In a sign of the average attendee’s youth, volunteers could be seen handing out pamphlets to first-time protesters with tips such as drink water and avoid wearing expensive jewellery or high heels.
Thousands take to Bangkok streets to protest against Thai government
Ice, who is in her final year at a high school outside Bangkok, said the “Hong Kong protests totally sparked the fire in all of us students”.
“After seeing them still protesting despite so many political activists being silenced, that really inspired us Thai kids to come out,” she said.
“If my headmaster finds out that I’m here, I’ll probably be kicked out. But if we don’t exercise our rights, how long will we have to put up with this dictatorship government?”
– Making of a movement –
But the time spent sheltering in place amid the pandemic was put to good use by the group Free Youth, one of the main organisers of Saturday’s rally, to build protest networks online until the country’s lockdown began to be eased in June.
Bass, who is also a secondary school student, joined Free Youth by filling out a questionnaire online and passing a video interview. He travelled to Bangkok alone from a northern province on Saturday, meeting with strangers who he had previously only met online – all wearing black, with “democracy” emblazoned across their clothes in white letters.
Free Youth has laid down three demands: dissolve parliament, end judicial harassment of dissenters and rewrite the 2017 constitution, which was written by the junta.
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Still, organiser Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, a 23-year-old better known as “Ford”, said the huge turnout had left him “speechless”.
“We give the government two weeks to respond to our demands otherwise we will escalate protests,” he said.
– Troubles ahead? –
The way forward is however littered with difficulties.
Prayuth’s government is supported by the military which has routinely cracked down on mass opposition movements since the 1970s.
A massacre at Thammasat University in 1976 and a bloody crackdown three years earlier are still raw in the minds of the public.
Equally, the bloody end to 2010’s “red shirt” protests in central Bangkok, which left scores dead in the shopping district, remains traumatic to the pro-democracy movement.
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The 112 royal defamation law hangs heavy in the air – even though it has not been used in months – while tough cybercrime rules are still being used to arrest and jail dissenters.
“Many people who took part in [Saturday’s] rally are likely to be charged. Some will be harassed by Thai authorities and their surrogates. There will be witch-hunts and hate campaigns, using disinformation,” said Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher for Human Rights Watch Asia.
“But Thailand is seeing a new chapter for political uprisings that seem unlikely to end any time soon.”