In the wake of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy youth movement, thousands of Thai students are taking to the streets in an unprecedented show of resistance against the country’s 200-year-old royal dynasty.
Less than a year after violent pro-democracy protests brought Hong Kong to a standstill, another wave of youth-led political resistance is sweeping through Thailand.
But in a country where criticising the ruling royal family could see you thrown in prison for 15 years, the mostly student protesters have been forced to get creative.
Using pop-culture references, such as images of Voldemort (otherwise known as He Who Cannot Be Named) from Harry Potter to symbolise the country’s king and a three-finger salute signalling resistance lifted from the Hunger Games series, students are demanding reform of what they see as the southeast Asian country’s authoritarian government.
“This could be a real turning point in Thai politics,” prominent critic of the Thai monarchy and Associate Professor in Southeast Asian studies Pavin Chachavalpongpun told SBS News from Japan, where he lives in self-exile.
The protesters have taken on the “most taboo issue in Thailand”, he said. “From the perspective of the state, this is a serious threat to political stability. And this political stability has long been underpinned by the well-being of the monarchy.”
But why are the widespread protests, now entering the second month and occurring most days, happening now; and who is the controversial, but powerful, king at the centre of them.
Who is King Maha Vajiralongkorn?
In the four years since taking the throne, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as King Rama X, has raised the eyebrows of many Thai citizens previously loyal to his much-loved father Bhumibol Adulyadej, who ruled for 70 years.
Months after his coronation in May 2019, the Australian-educated king was the first Thai royal in almost a century to adopt an official consort (she was stripped of the title three months later for “misbehaving”).
Dubbed the “playboy king” by media, he has on occasion been photographed wearing crop tops in public.
The 68-year-old has also made numerous constitutional changes since coming into power, including one that allows him to live outside the country in Germany.
In 2017, a law was amended to give him full control of the crown’s property holdings, instantly making him the wealthiest ruler in the world with an estimated $US30 billion in wealth.
As king, he is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and last year placed two army units under his direct control. This is despite Thailand being a constitutional monarchy since a revolution in 1932.
Why can’t citizens criticise the monarchy?
For decades, the royal family’s power has been protected by Thailand’s notorious lèse-majesté laws – literally translating to “to do wrong to majesty” – which are some of the harshest in the world.
Thailand’s criminal code states that anyone who “defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir apparent, or the regent” can be punished with between three and 15 years in prison.
In the past, the laws have applied to social media posts and even sharing articles critical of the king.
Dr Chachavalpongpun has experienced the impact first-hand.
“I have long been a critic of the monarchy, so that really put me in trouble,” he said. “In the aftermath of the [2014] coup, the junta came up with a list of people whom they think need their attitude adjusted, and I was in the list.”
After refusing the summons, Dr Chachavalpongpun said a warrant was issued for his arrest and his Thai passport was revoked. If he returned to Thailand, Dr Chachavalpongpun believes he too would be arrested at the airport. “And it would be a lengthy jail term,” he said.
This is because sentences for lèse-majesté are applied consecutively. In 2017, a 34-year-old man was reportedly sentenced to 70 years in prison for allegedly posting photos and videos of the royal family to Facebook. His term was halved to 35 years after he confessed.
One consequence of Dr Chachavalpongpun’s exile is that he is able to speak candidly about the secretive royal family. Recognising this he started the popular Royal Marketplace Facebook page earlier this year, as a place to discuss the role of the monarchy in Thailand.
Before it was shut down by the government last week, the page had more than one million followers, who Dr Chachavalpongpun said are mostly young people.
Why are the protests happening now?
While the Royal Marketplace Facebook page provided a place for anti-monarchist sentiment to be shared publicly, University of Sydney Lecturer Aim Sinpeng, who specialises in social media use in Southeast Asia, said the discontent had been growing for years, largely amoung university and high school students on Twitter.
“The discontent is old. It’s been the same discontent in Thailand since the protests really started in 2004, it’s just not resolved,” she said. “Street protests are just going in cycles.”
According to student organisers, the dissatisfaction can be traced to the 2014 coup, which saw the military seize power of the government.
Writing in the Nikkei Asian Review, organisers Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and Suphanut Aneknumwong said the protests had created a “sense of hope” that hadn’t been felt for six years.
Dr Sinpeng said the recent demonstrations are a direct continuation of those in the wake of the election last year, which many citizens viewed as illegitimate. Young people, in particular, were angered by the disbanding of the popular pro-democracy Future Forward party in February.
“That set a wave of flash mobs, mostly in Bangkok, but also in a few other provincial cities organised by university students,” she said. “But then COVID-19 came … so nothing happened offline, but continued online.”
Both Dr Sinpeng and Dr Chachavalpongpun suggest the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic hardship provided an additional push for people to act on the long-festering discontent.
The fact that the king had barely stepped foot in the country during the pandemic added to their dismay. Then the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns at the end of June gave them the green light to hit the streets.
What do the protesters want?
In short, the students are calling for major political change in Thailand.
Some key principles include an end to intimidation of pro-democracy campaigners, the dissolution of parliament and new elections, and an end to military coups.
They have also put forward a 10-point plan to reform the monarchy. The document, read aloud by Student Union of Thailand spokesperson Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul earlier this month, called for the reversal of many of the king’s constitutional changes, including his control of the Crown’s property holdings.
It also called for the monarchy to be accountable to the country’s elected institutions, to remain separate from politics and for lèse-majesté laws to be scrapped.
“Together, these protests amount to the breaking of a long-held taboo in Thailand: public discussion of the role of the monarchy in politics, coupled with calls for the institution to be open to public examination,” Mr Chotiphatphaisal and Mr Aneknumwong wrote last week.
In response to the plan for royal reform, Thai general-turned-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha warned that the students “really went too far”.
Will the protests lead to lasting change?
Dr Sinpeng said it is too early to tell. On the largest day of the Thai demonstrations, 16 August, the protest was approximately 10,000 people strong.
By comparison, the largest of the Hong Kong protests saw almost two million people gather in June last year, according to organisers.
The challenge for the students leading the charge, Dr Sinpeng said, will be to ensure older generations get on board.
There is also the possibility that the Thai government will resort to violence or further punitive measures – some of the key organisers have already been arrested – to quell the unrest before it is able to spread.
“I know for sure the students would never back down, because they have set a new benchmark for the discussion of the monarchy in Thailand,” Dr Chachavalpongpun said.
“The end game for this confrontation could be the use of force.”
Whether or not reform is achieved, Dr Chachavalpongpun believes that part of the protesters “mission” has already been accomplished simply by people showing they are willing to stand up against the government and, crucially, the monarchy.
“Thailand has been sick patient of southeast Asia for so long,” he said. “What is at the centre of the Thai crisis? The monarchy. For the students to come out and tackle the heart of the problem, that is significant.”
