Openly challenging the monarchy of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, thousands of anti-government protesters marched in Bangkok on Sunday demanding reforms to curb his powers, among the other demands. At the biggest demonstration since the 2014 coup, they declared that the country “belongs to the people” — the boldest show of defiance in the youth-led movement which is questioning the unassailable monarchy’s role in the country.
Moreover, the demonstrators called for the royal family to stay out of the country’s politics, saying that the king is above politics. However, the king, who spends much of his time in Europe, is not in the country at this moment.
Media reports in the national newspapers said that Thailand has seen near-daily protests for the past two months led by student activists calling for removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who masterminded the 2014 coup. Shortly after sunrise on Sunday, the protesters laid the plaque near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, saying that the country is not the property of the monarch as they have deceived us.
As reported, the new plaque, which resembles one that had commemorated the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, was removed from outside the royal palace in 2017, after Vajiralongkorn took the throne following the death of his father. It was replaced with one bearing a reminder for Thais to remain loyal to the “nation, religion, king”. However, the new plaque, laid by the pro-democracy protesters has been removed less than 24 hours after it was installed.
It is to be noted that demonstration against Thailand’s palace and military, breaking a longstanding taboo on criticising the monarchy, is illegal under “lese majeste laws”. The demonstrators called for greater accounting of the palace’s finances and the abolition of royal defamation laws. They also asked authorities to stop harassing the political opponents.
Against this background, it is feared Thailand would be “engulfed in flames” if reasonable reform is not accepted. In Thailand the monarchy and army act together to deny the people of their sovereignty. The army controls the election and politics. The people’s elected government can be overthrown by the army any time. Democracy has been made unworkable in Thailand.
Thailand is a beautiful country and its people are friendly attracting tourists from all over. We want to see violence is avoided and country be people’s country to be governed by the people’s elected representatives. The army has to play a responsible role in protecting the people’s sovereignty.
