Bangkok, Thailand – At least 10 pro-democracy activists were arrested in Thailand when anti-government rallies resumed a year after taboo-breaking protests challenging the country’s almighty monarchy.
Prominent protest leader and human rights lawyer Anon Nampa was one of the first to turn himself in on Monday afternoon.
According to Thai human rights lawyers, police came to his office to pressure him to give up allegations that he had again violated monarchy-related defamation laws. A number of other activists were arrested within hours.
The arrests come after demonstrators returned to the streets over the weekend calling for the prime minister’s resignation and reform of the monarchy.
“Another round of state repression against the democracy movement, particularly against the Thai monarchy reform, has resumed,” said Sirikan Charoensiri, a human rights attorney with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. She added that nine other leading activists were also jailed and all of their bail requests, including Anon’s, were denied Monday night.
Sirikan adds that the rejection of bail suggests that other key leaders “may suffer the same fate”.
Sunai Phasuk, a Thai researcher with Human Rights Watch, says the situation is rapidly deteriorating.
“The Thai authorities are becoming increasingly aggressive as pro-democracy movements start new street protests and use public frustration over Prime Minister Prayuth’s disastrous response to the COVID-19 crisis as a rallying point combined with outstanding demands for monarchical reform,” said Sunai Al Jazeera.
“It seems that the Thai state has now accepted no tolerance for dissenting votes. A year after the rise of the youth-led democracy uprising, the prospect of compromise or reconciliation is now dwindling. Thailand is sinking into new chaos. “
When students first called for monarchy reform in protests last year, they broke a long-standing taboo in a country where the monarchy has long been a deeply revered institution and the king enjoyed almost god-like status.
The royal family is also protected by strict royal defamation laws, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The mass protests that began on student campuses last year are putting the monarchy in the spotlight like never before [File: Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo]
But the death of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2013 and the accession to the throne of his now 69-year-old son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, have sparked new discussions about the role of the royal family in public life. Some Thais believe that the palace has too much political power and too much personal wealth.
Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, a student, was the activist who read the demonstrators’ historic list of demands on August 10th last year.
The 22-year-old recalls a shiver running down her back when she took the stage in the early hours of the morning in front of tens of thousands of demonstrators.
Rung demanded that the royal family no longer retain legal immunity before calling for the abolition of Thai royal libel laws. She called for the multi-billion dollar assets that the Thai king is privately holding to become public. Finally, she called on the authorities to investigate the disappearances and killings of critics of the monarchy – which sparked shock waves across the country.
A year later, she says some Thais are still dissatisfied with the status quo.
“The Thai royal family is the most powerful royal family in the world,” Rung told Al Jazeera.
“The Royals have everything in their hands. They control companies, the army, the prime minister, they control everything. But they are supposed to be a symbolic institution. But they have the power to sign a coup. That is against the constitution. “
The student Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul read out the list of demands at a rally last August, breaking a long-standing taboo on speaking out against the monarchy [File: Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo]
The anti-government movement that sprang up on university campuses in March last year grew into a formidable street presence that closed key parts of the capital in July.
“I was stressed and scared because I knew there was no going back once I got on that stage,” said Rung. “I was afraid of what might happen to me. I was afraid that I might be arrested or kidnapped. But I knew something had to be done. And I knew that I was the person for it. “
Taking action continues
The pro-democracy activist Anon has also felt strong pressure from the state.
Anon addressed the issue of royal reform in a speech to protesters a week before Rung read the list of demands.
Anon wore a Harry Potter-like cloak and compared the king to the villain of the book Voldemort – “who must not be named” – and said he was using “magic” to drive out the monarchy.
The royal family, he told the crowd, some of whom appeared in Harry Potter outfit, had unfathomable wealth, great influence and total power over Thai society.
The speech led to his arrest during nightly raids by the police, but he remained undeterred after he was released on bail. Last Tuesday he took up the subject again.
“This year will be the last year we will discuss monarchy reform,” he told the Bangkok crowd. “After that, what will happen will happen. We can’t stop the sun from rising, we can’t control what people believe in. We are here to fight for a better future. This year we will fight with strategies, we will fight with goals. “
The new arrests come as the democracy movement picks up speed for the first time in 2021.
Despite a rapidly deteriorating COVID-19 outbreak – with Thailand reporting record cases and deaths every day – thousands of protesters are returning to the streets calling for the same demands.
The protesters are still primarily calling for the resignation of former General and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. But they also reiterate their calls for palace reform that would curtail the power of the Thai king.
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida held a rare walking tour last November amid unprecedented calls for reform [File: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters]
However, analysts say it will take more than protest to change the political tide. Critics say Thailand’s military-backed establishment has close ties to the Royal Palace. Supporters of the king or “yellow shirts” urge the military to protect the monarchy at all costs, even if it means undermining democratic norms.
“Thailand is in a state of persistent malaise,” Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, told Al Jazeera. “Its self-correcting mechanisms, which could provide for a political reduction in pent-up pressure and a more effective government, no longer work that the country has suffered enough.”
While Thailand’s power structure remains intact, Rung says the war of ideas has already been won.
She says the students’ greatest achievement is creating a new avenue for open discussion around the monarchy – and that the country will never be the same again. In response to public criticism of the palace, the royal family’s PR machine organized several public events where royalists had the opportunity to greet the royal family. It was the first time in decades that the royal family took to the streets to meet their supporters.
“I knew I had to face future consequences,” said Rung of her 59 days behind bars. “And today I’m at war with myself. I was at war over whether or not to continue this movement. But in the last few days I have decided that I will keep fighting. Because in this game you definitely have to win. “
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