Thai protests: coup fears as Prayuth’s top general retires, military hedges US-China bets

Fears of another coup are emerging as Thailand braces for its largest anti-government rally on September 19

As army chief Apirat Kongsompong exits, his royalist successor is likely to maintain the status quo while balancing US-China ties amid the pandemic and protests, analysts say

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Police officers stand guard at the criminal courthouse in Bangkok. Photo: AP

Published: 12:15pm, 12 Sep 2020Updated: 9:33pm, 25 Nov 2020

When photos of Thailand’s outgoing army chief General Apirat Kongsompong visiting soldiers were recently posted on a Facebook page with the hashtag #WeWillNotLetItEndInOurGeneration, some people felt alarmed.

It was seen as a rebuke to the hashtag used by youth protesters – #WeMustLetItEndInOurGeneration – in their calls for military rule to end, the monarchy to be reformed, and for the constitution to be revised after the junta rewrote it to keep Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha in power following his coup in 2014.

As military supporters and protesters exchanged words online, questions have emerged on whether the new hashtag indicates the Thai military will take action against the young protesters over their pro-democracy movement, which began in July.

Others have worried the military’s rebuke of the protesters’ hashtag signals a veiled threat of a coup.

The concerns come as a major rally is set to take place in Bangkok on September 19 at Thammasat University, which was the site of a massacre in 1976 by paramilitary right-wing factions of left-wing students and activists.

In the previous protest on August 16, tens of thousands of people marched in Bangkok to call for political change. Protesters are expected to ramp up their demands in this week’s demonstration, which falls on the 14th anniversary of a coup that drove out former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and split the nation into pro-establishment, pro-military factions and pro-democracy, anti-coup groups.

Thai students flash three-finger salutes inspired by The Hunger Games during an anti-government protest in Bangkok. Photo: EPA

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