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2020–2021 Thai protests
In Thailand, protests began in early 2020 with demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. They later expanded to include the unprecedented demands for reform of the Thai monarchy. The protests were initially triggered by the dissolution of the Future Forward Party (FFP) in late February 2020 which was critical of Prayut, the changes to the Thai constitution in 2017, and the country's political landscape that it gave rise to.
This first wave of protests was held exclusively on academic campuses and was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests resumed on 18 July 2020 with a large demonstration organised under the Free Youth umbrella at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. Three demands were presented to the Government of Thailand: the dissolution of parliament, ending intimidation of the people, and the drafting of a new constitution. The July protests were triggered by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enforcement of the lockdown Emergency Decree and spread nationwide. The protesters were mostly students and young people without an overall leader.
On 3 August, two student groups publicly raised demands to reform the monarchy, breaking a long taboo of publicly criticising the monarchy. A week later, ten demands for monarchy reform were declared. A 19 September rally saw 20,000–100,000 protesters and has been described as an open challenge to King Vajiralongkorn. A government decision to delay voting on a constitutional amendment in late September fuelled nearly unprecedented public republican sentiment. Following mass protests on 14 October, a "severe" state of emergency was declared in Bangkok during 15–22 October citing the alleged blocking of a royal motorcade. During this period saw the first crackdown by police on 16 October using water cannons.
In November, the Parliament voted to pass two constitutional amendment bills, but their content effectively shut down the protesters' demands of abolishing the Senate and reformation of the monarchy. Clashes between the protesters and the police and royalists became more prevalent, and resulted in many injuries. Protests in 2021 were more sporadic compared to the previous year, with prominent protesters facing charges and the police using harsher tactics. The first protester died in October 2021, with the video showing that he was shot with live rounds by a person inside a police station.
Government responses included filing criminal charges using the Emergency Decree; arbitrary detention and police intimidation; delaying tactics; the deployment of military information warfare units; media censorship; the mobilisation of pro-government and royalist groups who have accused the protesters of receiving support from foreign governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as part of a global conspiracy against Thailand; and the deployment of thousands of police at protests. The government ordered university chancellors to prevent students from demanding reforms to the monarchy and to identify student protest leaders. Protests since October, when the King had returned to the country from Germany, resulted in the deployment of the military, riot police, and mass arrests. In November 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled that demands for reform of the monarchy were unconstitutional and ordered an end to all movements. The ruling has been likened to judicial coup.
By the end of 2021, the leading figures Arnon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, and Benja Apan were all detained awaiting trial in series of detainments and releases, some were imprisoned accumulatively for more than 200 days since 2020, after Prayut declared the use of all laws, including lèse-majesté, against the protesters. By 2022, street protests largely died down due to government suppression and internal divisions, without any demands responded, although small-scale and online activism continued.
The protests were identified, as early as in 2020, as "Gen Z protests".
Over the previous 90 years in Thailand, elected governments have frequently been overthrown by military coups. Thirteen successful coups have occurred since the end of absolute monarchy in the revolution of 1932. As head of the Royal Thai Army, Prayut Chan-o-cha instigated the most recent coup in 2014, and was leader of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta which came to power following the coup. Prayut was eventually appointed prime minister and, together with the NCPO, ruled the country for five years, during which political and civil rights were restricted and economic inequality widened. A disputed referendum, widely called unfree and unfair, was held in 2016 to approve a new military-drafted constitution. Analysts have described the new constitution as favouring the military and disadvantaging large political parties. It includes a junta-appointed Senate, empowered to vote for the prime minister for five years, allowing the military to select two prime ministers in the future, and binds future governments to a 20-year national strategy 'road map' laid down the NCPO, effectively locking the country into the period of military-guided democracy with a much reduced role for politicians at both national and local levels.
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2020–2021 Thai protests
In Thailand, protests began in early 2020 with demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. They later expanded to include the unprecedented demands for reform of the Thai monarchy. The protests were initially triggered by the dissolution of the Future Forward Party (FFP) in late February 2020 which was critical of Prayut, the changes to the Thai constitution in 2017, and the country's political landscape that it gave rise to.
This first wave of protests was held exclusively on academic campuses and was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests resumed on 18 July 2020 with a large demonstration organised under the Free Youth umbrella at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. Three demands were presented to the Government of Thailand: the dissolution of parliament, ending intimidation of the people, and the drafting of a new constitution. The July protests were triggered by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enforcement of the lockdown Emergency Decree and spread nationwide. The protesters were mostly students and young people without an overall leader.
On 3 August, two student groups publicly raised demands to reform the monarchy, breaking a long taboo of publicly criticising the monarchy. A week later, ten demands for monarchy reform were declared. A 19 September rally saw 20,000–100,000 protesters and has been described as an open challenge to King Vajiralongkorn. A government decision to delay voting on a constitutional amendment in late September fuelled nearly unprecedented public republican sentiment. Following mass protests on 14 October, a "severe" state of emergency was declared in Bangkok during 15–22 October citing the alleged blocking of a royal motorcade. During this period saw the first crackdown by police on 16 October using water cannons.
In November, the Parliament voted to pass two constitutional amendment bills, but their content effectively shut down the protesters' demands of abolishing the Senate and reformation of the monarchy. Clashes between the protesters and the police and royalists became more prevalent, and resulted in many injuries. Protests in 2021 were more sporadic compared to the previous year, with prominent protesters facing charges and the police using harsher tactics. The first protester died in October 2021, with the video showing that he was shot with live rounds by a person inside a police station.
Government responses included filing criminal charges using the Emergency Decree; arbitrary detention and police intimidation; delaying tactics; the deployment of military information warfare units; media censorship; the mobilisation of pro-government and royalist groups who have accused the protesters of receiving support from foreign governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as part of a global conspiracy against Thailand; and the deployment of thousands of police at protests. The government ordered university chancellors to prevent students from demanding reforms to the monarchy and to identify student protest leaders. Protests since October, when the King had returned to the country from Germany, resulted in the deployment of the military, riot police, and mass arrests. In November 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled that demands for reform of the monarchy were unconstitutional and ordered an end to all movements. The ruling has been likened to judicial coup.
By the end of 2021, the leading figures Arnon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, and Benja Apan were all detained awaiting trial in series of detainments and releases, some were imprisoned accumulatively for more than 200 days since 2020, after Prayut declared the use of all laws, including lèse-majesté, against the protesters. By 2022, street protests largely died down due to government suppression and internal divisions, without any demands responded, although small-scale and online activism continued.
The protests were identified, as early as in 2020, as "Gen Z protests".
Over the previous 90 years in Thailand, elected governments have frequently been overthrown by military coups. Thirteen successful coups have occurred since the end of absolute monarchy in the revolution of 1932. As head of the Royal Thai Army, Prayut Chan-o-cha instigated the most recent coup in 2014, and was leader of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta which came to power following the coup. Prayut was eventually appointed prime minister and, together with the NCPO, ruled the country for five years, during which political and civil rights were restricted and economic inequality widened. A disputed referendum, widely called unfree and unfair, was held in 2016 to approve a new military-drafted constitution. Analysts have described the new constitution as favouring the military and disadvantaging large political parties. It includes a junta-appointed Senate, empowered to vote for the prime minister for five years, allowing the military to select two prime ministers in the future, and binds future governments to a 20-year national strategy 'road map' laid down the NCPO, effectively locking the country into the period of military-guided democracy with a much reduced role for politicians at both national and local levels.