Thai PM refuses to resign, police crack down on protesters

Thailand’s prime
minister rejected calls for his resignation Friday, while riot police cracked
down on thousands of student-led protesters who rallied in the capital in
defiance of a strict state of emergency.
Police used water
cannons and charged at the crowd, scattering protesters, onlookers and
reporters. Journalists who were hit by the water said it caused a stinging
sensation and was dyed blue, to mark protesters for possible later arrest.
Police appeared to have
assumed control of the intersection where the rally was centered, and much of
the crowd retreated down a street to nearby Chulalongkorn University, where
some organizers advised them to shelter if they were not going directly home.
The protesters had
gathered in torrential monsoon rains to push their core demands, including that
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha leave office, the constitution be amended and
the nation’s monarchy undergo reform.
It was the second day
they defied an order not to gather, imposed after some demonstrators heckled a
royal motorcade, an unprecedented development in Thailand, where the monarchy
is normally held in reverence.
Police had earlier
closed roads and put up barricades around a major Bangkok intersection where
some 10,000 protesters defied the new decree Thursday. Police in riot gear
secured the area, while malls in the normally busy shopping district closed
early. Nearby mass transit stations were closed to stop crowds of protesters
from getting near the area.
The student protesters,
however, simply moved down the street to another large intersection.
Prayuth’s government
declared a strict new state of emergency for the capital on Thursday, a day
after the heckling of the motorcade.
The state of emergency
outlaws public gatherings of more than five people and bans the dissemination
of news that is deemed to threaten national security. It also gives authorities
broad powers, including detaining people at length without charge.
A number of protest
leaders have already been rounded up since the decree went into effect. On
Friday another two activists were arrested under a law covering violence
against the queen for their alleged part in the heckling of the motorcade. They
could face up to life in prison if convicted.
The protest movement was
launched in March by university students and its original core demands were new
elections, changes in the constitution to make it more democratic, and an end
to intimidation of activists.
The protesters charge
that Prayuth, who as army commander led a 2014 coup that toppled an elected
government, was returned to power unfairly in last year’s general election
because laws had been changed to favor a pro-military party.
But the movement took a
stunning turn in August, when students at a rally aired unprecedented criticism
of the monarchy and issued calls for its reform. Using direct language normally
expressed in whispers if at all, the speakers criticized the king’s wealth, his
influence and that he spends much of his time outside the country.
Thailand’s royal family
has long been considered sacrosanct and a pillar of Thai identity. King Maha
Vajiralongkorn and other key member of the royal family are protected by a lese
majeste law that has regularly been used to silence critics who risk up to 15
years in prison if deemed to have insulted the institution.
Conservative royalist
Thais accuse the protest movement of seeking to end the monarchy, an allegation
its leaders deny.
Wednesday’s incident
with the royal motorcade was stunned many Thais. Video that circulated widely
showed members of a small crowd heckling a motorcade carrying Queen Suthida and
Prince Dipangkorn as it slowly passed. Security personnel stood between the
vehicles and the crowd and there was no visible violence and none was described
by witnesses.
It normal in Thailand
for those waiting for a royal motorcade to sit on the ground or prostrate
themselves.
Prayuth’s declaration of
a state of emergency said the measure was necessary because “certain groups of
perpetrators intended to instigate an untoward incident and movement in the
Bangkok area by way of various methods and via different channels, including
causing obstruction to the royal motorcade.”
Prayuth said Friday that
he had no plans to resign as he had done nothing wrong. He said his government
hopes it can drop the state of emergency ahead of its normal 30-day duration
“if the situation improves quickly.”
The legal aid group Thai
Lawyers for Human Rights said at least 51 people have been arrested since
Tuesday in connection with the protests.
Police on Friday went to
search the offices of the Progressive Movement, a group formed by former
lawmakers from a reform-minded political party that was controversially
dissolved by the Constitutional Court.
The two activists
charged over the incident with the queen are Ekachai Hongkangwan and Paothong
Bunkueanum.
Ekachai is a veteran
activist who has been physically attacked several times, in apparent response
to his criticism of the military. Paothong, a university student, has been
involved in organizing the protests.
The Wednesday incident
in which the two were allegedly involved was stunning to most Thais, because by
tradition and law, members of the royal family are treated with the utmost
respect.
“We were not notified by the police of
the upcoming royal motorcade in which we had no way of knowing because they
were not informing us,” Paothong told reporters Friday.
“Once we knew that there was a
motorcade of the queen and the heir presumptive to the throne I tried to break
away from the line and use my megaphone to have everyone move away from the
police barriers so the motorcade can pass through easily,” he said.
The Ministry of Digital
Economy, meanwhile, announced it would file complaints with police covering
five Twitter accounts and five Facebook accounts inviting people to attend
Friday’s rally. Such posting could be deemed illegal under the state of
emergency, as well as other laws.