Protest In Bangkok Started 18/Jul/2020

[Yamato]

 

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by Yamato

[Bigbird]

16 hours ago, socrates469bc said:

 

thats a misconception.

 

the most forgiving country is a small island republic called temasek.

 

tiagong the elite called their peasants xia xuay and still can be supported by 71% of their peasants.

 

wahahahhahahahah

 

I am still waiting for this Free Rider to Walk the talk

 

[Bigbird]

1 hour ago, Yamato said:

 

 

 

Wahhhh... This is getting exciting!

 

At least Thai & Malaysian have Balls!

[socrates469bc]

8 hours ago, Bigbird said:

 

Wahhhh... This is getting exciting!

 

At least Thai & Malaysian have Balls!

 

its not becos they have balls but is becos democracy doesnt work in their countries.

 

singapore has democracy but the masses likes to be insulted xia suay , what to do??????

 

wahahahhahahah

[Bigbird]

1 hour ago, socrates469bc said:

 

its not becos they have balls but is becos democracy doesnt work in their countries.

 

singapore has democracy but the masses likes to be insulted xia suay , what to do??????

 

wahahahhahahah

 

OUch........!

 

The truth hurts!

 

This will take decades to improve and the "Free Rider overlords (najibs)" would have "siphoned" aplenty.  

 

Local Sinky political strategy to keep the masses in "highly geared" and in debt (worry about pay off HDB, car, Student loans...) is working well.  Once people worry about day to day matters, people wont have time to worry abt politics!

 

Bersih!   Oh wait....

 

What's is the current Thais Chant? 

[Yamato]

Brave kids all of them

 

 

[socrates469bc]

52 minutes ago, Yamato said:

Brave kids all of them

 

 

 

the real brave kids r the souls lost during the thammasat uni massacre.

 

hopefully this generation of kids will complete the revolution.

 

the protest has spread to at least 20 other provinces, so even military force wont be able to handle this spontaneous outbreak of protests if violence breaks out.

 

the masses r too dulan now to think rationally.

[socrates469bc]

11 hours ago, Bigbird said:

 

 

 

What's is the current Thais Chant? 

 

current chant is down with payuth and reform the monarchy.

[Bigbird]

23 hours ago, socrates469bc said:

 

current chant is down with payuth and reform the monarchy.

 

That's not simple to say!

 

23 hours ago, socrates469bc said:

 

the real brave kids r the souls lost during the thammasat uni massacre.

 

hopefully this generation of kids will complete the revolution.

 

the protest has spread to at least 20 other provinces, so even military force wont be able to handle this spontaneous outbreak of protests if violence breaks out.

 

the masses r too dulan now to think rationally.

 

I admire these youngsters! May the force be with them!

 

[socrates469bc]

siam pm backing down liao but the masses still dulan.

 

seems like the colonels of first division refusing to come out of barracks to suppress the protests.

 

if there r a 100 protesters, the army will whack them.

 

if there r a 1000 protesters, the army will observe.

 

if there r 10k protesters, the army will join the protesters.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/thailand-protests-idUSKBN2761P2

[Yamato]

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Thailand's youth protest draws thousands after PM refuses to quit
Demonstrators return to Bangkok's commercial heart in smaller numbers

 

Thousands of protesters returned to Bangkok's Ratchaprasong intersection on Sunday for the first major protest in Thailand since a state of severe emergency was lifted on Thursday. (Photo by Masayuki Yuda)
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerOctober 25, 2020 16:35 JSTUpdated on October 25, 2020 22:07 JST

 

BANGKOK -- Pro-democracy groups are taking turns reviving daily rallies and protest momentum after a three-day relative lull during which Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ignored a student demand that he resign by 10 p.m. on Saturday.

 

The first rally on Sunday was due to run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and revisited the Ratchaprasong intersection, a business and retail area in central Bangkok. A protest there on Oct. 15 attracted over 10,000 mostly young people. Today's rally had attracted thousands by 7 p.m.

 

"Prayuth is the problem. [He is] the first obstacle that we need to remove," said activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa when he announced the rally this morning.

 

Jatupat, who goes by the nickname Pai Dao Din, called for the resumption of daily protests after Prayuth let the resignation deadline pass. He became a pro-democracy activist in 2015, and has been arrested and charged a number of times, including for lese-majeste -- a draconian law that outlaws perceived damage or insult to the monarchy. Jatupat was among 19 protesters arrested on Oct. 13 near Democracy Monument, and was granted bail on Friday.

 

The rally held at Ratchaprasong on Oct. 15 defied a state of severe emergency declared early that morning by the government that banned gatherings of more than four people. On that occasion, police blocked an overhead walkway from a nearby skytrain station, but the measure failed to curb attendance.

 

The following night, Oct. 16, riot police were deployed and water cannons, tear gas and skin irritants used against a peaceful crowd that was close to dispersing from the nearby Pathumwan intersection because of heavy rain. The excessive police action was widely criticized at home and abroad.

 

Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, the firebrand protest leader who goes by the nickname Pai Dao Din, called Sunday's rally after being released on bail from police custody on Friday. (Photo by Masayuki Yuda)

 

Thailand has been governed under a state of emergency since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this has been renewed on a monthly basis. The supplementary severe emergency decree was lifted after a week on Oct. 22.

 

On Saturday, Prayuth said he would not quit the premiership when he emerged from Wat Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhakaram, a Buddhist temple. The prime minister had been participating in prayers for recovery from turmoil, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the national political impasse. "I urge everyone to reconcile and help solve problems together," he said.

 

There will be a special joint session of parliament on Monday and Tuesday to review the political unrest. Although such sessions are not allowed to vote through any resolutions, recommendations can be made.

 

Two other pro-democracy groups, Free Youth and the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, announced a two-kilometer march in central Bangkok on Monday from Samyan intersection to the German embassy.

 

"See you at the German embassy at 17:00 on Monday," one of the protest groups tweeted late on Saturday. The rally will add an international twist to the standoff.

 

King Maha Vajiralongkorn spends most of his time in Germany, and reform of the monarchy has been one of the key demands at recent protests.Thousands of protesters returned to Bangkok's Ratchaprasong intersection, the commercial heart of the kingdom's capital on Sunday. (Photo by Masayuki Yuda)

 

The lifting of the emergency decree has also enabled royalists to stage counter-rallies. The king and other members of the royal family have been under unusually open scrutiny in recent months, but the palace has remained tight-lipped.

 

On Friday, the king entered the frame directly by mingling with ordinary royalists following a ceremony to commemorate his great grandfather, King Chulalongkorn. The king stepped out of his motorcade to meet supporters.

 

"Very brave, very brave, very good, thank you," the king told a man who had challenged anti-government protesters on Wednesday by raising a picture of the king and Queen Suthida during an anti-government protest outside a Central department store in Bangkok's Pinklao district. A clip of the incident went viral.

 

The protesters frequently shout, "Prayuth, get out." Today they added a new chant to their repertoire: "Very brave, very brave, good job, good job -- now get out."

 

Political analysts have raised concerns that royalists might use the king's unexpected -- and very unusual -- interaction with the public as an excuse to escalate activities against pro-democracy protesters. So far, there have only been minor skirmishes between the two sides and no serious clashes.

 

Open discussion of the monarchy is meanwhile spreading. The Facebook group Royalist Marketplace, an online forum used mainly by younger people, had over two million members by Sunday afternoon despite government efforts to get it shut down.

[Yamato]

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Thailand's untouchable monarchy comes under unusual scrutiny
King Maha Vajiralongkorn talks of compromise but calls for reform unlikely to go away
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerNovember 10, 2020 06:47 JST

 

BANGKOK -- Early on Sunday morning, Arnon Nampa, 36, a human rights lawyer whose calls for reform of the monarchy date back over a decade, posted a long letter of rebuke to the king on social media from Chiang Mai, where he faces prosecution.

 

It was Arnon who punctured the royal cocoon in July when he broke a long-standing taboo by advocating reform of the once inviolable monarchy at a student rally. The call was amplified the following month in a 10-point reform agenda read out at Thammasat University.

 

The seemingly nonnegotiable message that has emerged from the rash of youth-led protests in recent months is that there cannot be meaningful political reform in Thailand until the monarchy - which its critics say is unaccountable and self-serving -- is brought back under the constitution.

 

King Vajiralongkorn's constant absence is a major issue. Since his accession in 2016, the king has continued to reside in Bavaria in southwestern Germany. His father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016, did not leave Thailand at all after 1967, apart from a fleeting visit to Laos in 1994, and for many decades spent eight months of the year outside the capital moving between four provincial palaces. His son's visits home usually last less than 24 hours.

 

"He likes Germany because he can be free from ceremonies," Sulak Sivaraksa, 87, Thailand's leading social critic, told Nikkei Asia. Sulak had a 90-minute audience with the king in 2017, when they discussed the future of the monarchy.

 

The other two key demands of the protesters are that the military-drafted constitution be amended in consultation with representatives of the people, and that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who seized power in 2014, resign along with his cabinet.

 

King Maha Vajiralongkorn receives a wilting red rose at a royalist rally -- red is the colour of the opposition, while yellow is a royal color.    © Reuters

 

On Saturday, key pro-democracy groups Free Youth and Free People posted a message to the king on social media: "If your words, 'We love them all the same,' are true, you should accept letters from everyone, not just those in yellow shirts who shout loudly 'Long live the king.' Treat everyone the same."

 

Protesters were earlier told to write personal letters to the king. At about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, riot police halted over 10,000 of them with two water cannon blasts when they tried to deliver their messages. The protest was moving toward the Grand Palace and the Privy Council Chambers where a protest note to the king was delivered by student leaders on Sept. 19. Police later described using water cannons as a mistake.

 

A prepared statement was meanwhile issued online, and signed simply "People."

 

"This kingdom is a land of compromise and love, not of cruel power and brute force," it said. "The three demands from the people are the utmost compromise."

No officials were sent to receive the letters, and organizers described the protest as "symbolic" -- encouraging speculation that secret backchannel talks are already underway.

 

Organizers maintained that officials remain unresponsive. The letters were left behind in four red wheelie bin mailboxes that police said would not be forwarded to the king because protocols had been ignored.

 

Pro-democracy protesters flash trademark three-finger salutes as they pass a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Oct. 14.   © Reuters

 

Sunday's protest started at nearby Democracy Monument, and followed a small royalist gathering there. "Let's gather at Democracy Monument on Nov. 8 to observe whether there's anyone who would insult the monarchy," one social media post read. The royalists sang the national anthem and dispersed, and a feared clash did not happen.

 

The letter campaign followed some rare public comments made by the king on Nov. 1, the night after a blue moon. The roads outside the Grand Palace were shimmering belts of gold as an estimated 8,000 royalists dressed in yellow waited for a chance to meet the king -- normally the most elusive man in his own kingdom.

 

The king had on an earlier occasion stepped away from his motorcade to mingle with ordinary royalists, and even posed for palace-approved selfies. The Thai press invariably maintain a respectful distance, but the king's relative accessibility has opened cracks. A smart foreign correspondent emerged from the crowd to perform a classic "doorstep" maneuver.

 

"Your majesty, these people love you, but what do you have to say to the protesters?" asked Jonathan Miller, a correspondent for Channel 4 News in the U.K. and U.S.-based CNN.

 

"I have no comment," the king initially responded looking somewhat bemused. But he rallied: "We love them all the same," he repeated three times.

 

"Is there any room for compromise, sir?" Miller asked.

 

"Thailand is the land of compromise," the king said, before moving away uncomfortably with Queen Suthida shouting back, "We also love you."

 

King Maha Vajiralongkorn supported by Queen Suthida as they mingle among royalists outside the Grand Royal Palace on Nov. 1.    © Getty Images

 

The king returned to Thailand on Oct 10. for what was to have been a week to mark the fourth anniversary of his father's death. That would have been among his longest stays since his accession, but with the youth-led protests continuing, and Germany going into lockdown, his stay has been extended to the end of December -- providing rare opportunities to engage with him.

 

On Oct. 14, a royal motorcade carrying Queen Suthida and the king's fifth son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, 15, briefly encountered a protest march heading for Government House. The still unexplained close encounter was a justification for the elevated "serious" state of emergency declared on Oct. 15. -- Thailand has been ruled under a state of emergency since March to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Police used water cannons, tear gas and skin irritants the following day against peaceful demonstrators who were about to disperse -- an action that attracted widespread criticism.

 

There has also been a foreign twist. On Oct. 26, the German embassy was the scene of arguably the most serious diplomatic incident in Bangkok since Palestinian terrorists seized the Israeli embassy in 1971. A smaller group of royalists delivered a letter, followed a few hours later by students who read out a detailed communication in Thai, English, and German.

 

Among other matters, they wanted Berlin to investigate whether the king conducts Thai affairs of state on German soil, and whether he is liable for inheritance tax in Bavaria. As the embassy circulated a letter defending the right to peaceful demonstrations, and stuck resolutely to a middle path between the two groups, many were reminded that the king's desire to reside in Germany could exert some unusual external restraint on how the young protesters are handled.

 

"Germany is currently holding the presidency of the EU Council, and is thus in a key position," Felix Heiduk of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs told Nikkei.

 

 

On Oct. 31, the king boldly went ahead with a two-day graduation ceremony at Thammasat University, the very epicenter of recent student rebellion. Almost half of the 9,600 recent graduates opted not to receive their degrees from him -- foregoing a cherished rite of passage during the last reign. Throughout, the young protesters have stuck to their demand for royal reform.

 

The political ruckus has many reasons according to Kasit Piromya, 75. The retired foreign minister and former leading Yellow Shirt believes there is a chasm after the 70-year reign of King Bhumibol, and that military government has not delivered on its promise to tackle political corruption. The economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated everything.

 

The king has attracted public ire by his absence in Germany, transferring Crown Property Bureau assets to his own name, and placing himself in the military chain of command when he is already titular head of the armed forces. "The king cannot just fly in from Germany, do royal activities, and fly back," Kasit told Nikkei.

 

"These protesters are the generation that has been raised by their families to think outside the box," Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, an assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University specializing in student activism, told Nikkei. "They are not hesitant to argue or question."

 

Protesters flash three-finger salutes inspired by the Hunger Games films.     © Reuters

 

But discussions stir tensions. "I tried to raise the debate about the monarchy's role when we were having lunch with my parents and grandmother," a 16-year-old protester nicknamed Noey told Nikkei. "At first, my parents were willing to talk, but we had to stop because the conversation made my grandmother uncomfortable."

 

Sulak thinks the youth unrest is justified. "This is the first time with not only college and university students but also schoolchildren," he told Nikkei. "They are very articulate, and what they say also makes sense."

 

On Nov. 4, over 20 protest leaders called a press conference at Sanam Luang to reiterate their three main policy planks. Student slogans reflect exasperation with the military interference in politics -- ostensibly in defense of the monarchy: "Down with feudalism! Long live democracy! End it in our generation!" they chant. Prayuth's coup in 2014 was the second this century, and the 13th since Thailand's absolute monarchy was notionally replaced by a constitutional variant in 1932.

 

There is also deep suspicion of the compliant judiciary. In February, the opposition Future Forward party won 16% of the vote with major support from first-time voters and young urbanites, making it the third largest party. It was dissolved by the constitutional Court for accepting a large loan from its former leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, 41, who was also barred from politics for 10 years. But youthful rebelliousness is unlikely to dissipate. Schoolchildren who participated in recent pro-democracy protests will vote in 2023, adding to the youthful reformers who voted for Future Forward in 2019.

 

 

Official efforts to reassert authority over the once relatively submissive majority Buddhist population have so far failed. More people came out on the streets after police first used water cannons. Attempts to shutter news organizations and social media sites have foundered. A court order to shut down VoiceTV was rescinded, while an anti-monarchy Facebook group, Royalists Marketplace, defied a shutdown order by slightly renaming itself. It rebounded with over two million members.

 

On Wednesday, Prayuth signed a motion to go before parliament regarding constitutional reform, which requires a national referendum. Paiboon Nititawan, deputy leader of the Palang Pracharat party in the ruling coalition, supported the idea of a referendum. "I believe that majority of Thai people would disagree with rallies that violate the monarchy," he said.

 

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha looks on during a two-day special parliamentary session in late October that failed to resolve Thailand's political deadlock.    © AP

 

"The youth calls for structural reforms are not possible because the elites cannot see the entrenched structural problems," Puangthong Pawkapan, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, told Nikkei. "Even if the elites do see them, they will not bring change to the system -- the stakes are too high."

 

Sulak has always argued that constructive criticism is the best way to protect and perpetuate the monarchy. "People already feel that the monarchy may not even survive," he said, "if the monarchy is not accountable, if there is no criticism and unless it benefits people."

 

"This is the bet of their life for the next 60 years," Kanokrat said of the protesters. "Changes have to take place. It is the time to hold serious discussion so that we can live together," she added.

 

Additional reporting by Marwaan Macan-Markar and Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat.

 

[socrates469bc]

taksin curse at work since 2006.

 

a decade and half of inconsistent economic policymaking is starting to  haunt them.

[Yamato]

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Thailand targets Thanathorn for questioning king's vaccine maker
Former opposition leader latest to be slapped with lese majeste charges

 

[img]https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com%2Fpsh-ex-ftnikkei-3937bb4%2Fimages%2F9%2F8%2F3%2F9%2F31909389-3-eng-GB%2FCropped-161121943320210121%20thanathorn%20.JPG?source=nar-cms[/img]
Opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said Thursday the lese majeste case against him was "politically motivated" and insisted on his innocence in a news conference.   © Reuters
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerJanuary 21, 2021 19:45 JST

 

BANGKOK -- Former Thai opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has become the most recent target to face the kingdom's draconian lese-majeste law for disputing the government's COVID-19 vaccine strategy of solely relying on domestic production by a biopharmaceutical company ultimately owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

 

Thanathorn said the case against him was "politically motivated" and insisted on his innocence in a news conference on Thursday. Thai people deserve to know the truth of what is going on with their vaccines, he said.

 

The Digital Economy and Society Ministry filed the royal defamation charge as well as a violation of the country's Computer Crime Act against Thanathorn to the technology crime suppression division of the police on Wednesday.

 

The move came only two days after the 42-year-old billionaire ran a live online broadcast that questioned the role of Siam Bioscience in producing coronavirus vaccines in Thailand. Thanathorn made 11 critical remarks about the monarchy.

 

As of April 13, 2020, all but two of the company's total of 48 million issued shares belonged to the king. The two were owned by an air chief marshal and a police colonel, respectively. The Crowne Property Bureau, which manages King Vajiralongkorn's assets, used to hold most of Siam Bioscience's shares, but they were transferred to the king's direct possession sometime between April 20, 2018 and April 29, 2019, according to documents obtained by Nikkei Asia.

 

The government has accelerated the use of lese majeste since November, when Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government "will intensify its actions and use all laws, all articles, against protesters who broke the law." At least 54 activists including minors have faced the charge in recent months, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. Some protest leaders are facing multiple lese-majeste charges.

 

Prayuth's cabinet approved plans to purchase a total of 63 million doses of COVID vaccines. Of those, 26 million shots have been assigned exclusively to Siam Bioscience to be produced domestically using a recipe from AstraZeneca shared through a technology transfer deal.

 

In the broadcast, Thanathorn did not explicitly criticize the awarding of the deal to the company. Instead, he questioned Siam Bioscience's experience in vaccine-making, and said the government was relying too much on a company with limited credentials in the area.

 

"It's too late before they realized that most of the vaccines have been bought out," the politician said in the broadcast. "I have to ask whether the government is prepared to handle the risk of putting all hopes on a single company."

 

Prayuth slammed Thanathorn's claim on Tuesday. "It's all distorted and not factual at all," he said. "I will order prosecution for anything false that gets published, whether in [traditional] media or social media."

 

According to a government database, Siam Bioscience registered a total revenue of 157 million baht ($5.3 million) for 2019. Its total assets were recorded at 4.5 billion baht.

 

[img]https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com%2Fpsh-ex-ftnikkei-3937bb4%2Fimages%2F_aliases%2Farticleimage%2F2%2F9%2F1%2F4%2F31914192-3-eng-GB%2FCropped-161122872120210121%20thailand%20vaccine%20astra%20.JPG?source=nar-cms[/img]
President of AstraZeneca in Thailand James Teague attends an agreement signing ceremony for Thailand to provide potential COVID-19 vaccine at Government House in Bangkok, November 27, 2020.    © Reuters

 

The charges did not discourage Thanathorn from voicing his doubts. "Why is the government doing so much defending in the name of a private company? Is it actually admitting that a special privilege has been granted to this private company?" he posted on Facebook after the Digital Economy and Society Ministry filed the complaint.

 

This is not the first legal challenge faced by Thanathorn. He formed his own pro-democracy Future Forward Party in 2018. In general elections in the following year, the party won 81 out of 500 lower house seats in Thailand. Its progressive campaign to cut the military budget and pursue bold reforms created many enemies, especially among the establishment.

 

In November 2019, Thanathorn was stripped of his status as a parliamentary member by the Constitutional Court, as he failed to entirely relinquish his media shareholding before running for office. The court later ordered his party to disband as it was accused of receiving illegal funding from the leader. Pro-democracy activists took these developments as legal harassments, and took to the streets to protest the overreach of the government.

 

The lese majeste law, or Article 112 of the criminal code, is the most draconian of its kind in the world. Defendants face up to 15 years in jail per offense, with consecutive terms possible. Anyone can make a complaint of lese majeste to the police.

 

These recent charges come at a relatively quiet time for Thailand after a year of much unrest. Since mid-December, large protest groups have refrained from holding mass rallies due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in the kingdom.

 

But angered by the government's recent actions, a small group rallied at Victory Monument in central Bangkok on Saturday, asking onlookers to write their own protest messages on a 112 m blank banner.

 

The demonstration soon met a violent crackdown by the police acting on the government's ban on political gatherings brought in on Dec. 26. Before the banner was confiscated, one of the supporters wrote "the COVID-19 is just an excuse," implying that the government was using the pandemic to impose restrictions in Bangkok to quell the pro-democracy movement rather than to stop the spread of the virus.

 

"Slitting the chicken's neck to frighten the monkeys" was how one royal observer described recent developments. On Tuesday, a Thai woman was sentenced to a jail term of 43 years and six months for lese majeste charges over her actions in 2015, luridly displaying what the law is capable of.

 

Royalists have been encouraged by King Vajiralongkorn's unusual long stay on home soil to go on the offensive. Since his accession to the throne in 2016, the king had spent most of his time in Germany. But over the past few months, he has traveled around Thailand, occasionally mingling with his supporters.

 

On Wednesday, prominent royalist Warong Dechgitvigrom announced the formation of a pro-monarchy political party called Thai Pakdee. "Today, we stand up and fight for the entire nation's revered and beloved institution," he said, referring to the monarchy.

 

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a pro-democracy politician and co-founder of the dissolved Future Forwad, quickly responded to Warong's move on Twitter. "The formation of a party that advocates the protection of the monarchy, whether by good intention or in the name of destroying others, only brings the monarchy into the political sphere," he tweeted.