Thailand protests

  • For the last several months, Thailand has been witnessing pro-democracy demonstrations with protesters demanding that the monarchy be reformed and that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha resign. 
  • The current wave of protests is among the biggest seen in recent times. 
THAILAND AND ITS HISTORY 
  • Thailand is officially known as the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly it was known as Siam. 
  • It is a country in Southeast Asia and is located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula.
  • It is composed of 76 provinces.
  • Constitutional monarchy: 24 June 1932. 
  • Current constitution; 6 April 2017.
  • Monarch: Maha Vajiralongkorn.
  • Thailand has had 20 constitutions and charters since the overthrow of absolute monarchy in 1932.
  • The latest one was that of the 2014 and 2017 constitutions, both of which have been made my Military.
RECENT HISTORY 

  • In 2014, Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army invoked new constitution . 
  • Prayuth declared martial law and night-time curfew nationwide, dissolved the government and the Senate of Thailand. 
  • Students were ordered to belt out a song every morning extolling Thai values. 
  • He concentrated all the executive and legislative powers in the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) with himself its leader.
KING OF THAILAND
  • Although, the monarchy lost absolute authority in the ‘Siamese revolution’ of 1932, the King retained god-like status in society and enormous influence in the government. 
  • The Current monarch, Maha Vajiralongkorn, assumed the throne in 2016.
  • He endorsed Prayuth Chan-o-Cha. 
  • The military junta in return gave the new King full control of the Crown Property Bureau, which manages the palace’s roughly $30 billion worth of assets. 
  • In 2019, the King brought two Army units under his direct control. 
  • Experts say that, King Vajiralongkorn’s plan appears to be taking the country closer to absolute monarchy.

HOW DID THE PROTESTS START?

  • Anti-government protests emerged last year after courts banned the most vocal party opposing the government of former junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha. 
  • After a pause during measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, protests resumed in mid-July – pushing for Prayuth’s removal, a new constitution and an end to the harassment of activists.

WHO ARE THE PROTESTERS?

  • Most are students and young people and there is no overall leader. 
  • Key groups include the Free Youth Movement, which was behind the first major protest in July.
  • Another is the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, a student group from Bangkok’s Thammasat University, which has championed calls for monarchy reform. 
  • There is also the Bad Student movement of high-schoolers, which seeks education reform.
PROTESTING METHODS
  • Thailand’s political divide has been between the “red shirts” (populists and supporters of Shinawatra) and the “yellow shirts” (loyalists of the royalty).
  • This time, the protesters are not using these traditional colour codes but have come up with their own symbols to express their ideas and dissent. like “Anti-coup” three-finger salute from The Hunger Games series, Harry Potter-style wizard costumes holding up chopstick-wands and gestures such as the hands crossed over the chest, and hands pointing above the head.

WHAT ROYAL REFORMS DO THE PROTESTERS WANT?

  • Protesters want to reverse a 2017 increase in the king’s constitutional powers.
  • The increase was made the year after he succeeded his widely revered late father King Bhumibol Adulyadej. 
  • Pro-democracy activists say Thailand is backtracking on the constitutional monarchy established when absolute royal rule ended in 1932. 
  • They say the monarchy is too close to the army and argue that this has undermined democracy.
  • Protesters also seek the scrapping of lese majeste laws against insulting the king. 
  • They want the king to relinquish the personal control he took over a palace fortune estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, and some units of the army.
  • Under the Lese majeste laws, the monarchy is protected by Section 112 of the Penal Code.
  • The section says that whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, heir-apparent or regent shall be jailed for three to 15 years. 

SOURCES; IE, STUDY IQ

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