{"id":4402,"date":"2020-08-17T00:01:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T23:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/?p=4402"},"modified":"2020-08-17T00:01:51","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T23:01:51","slug":"biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on\u00a0 Sunday in by far the biggest anti-government demonstration since a 2014 coup.<\/p>\n

There were cheers for student calls to curb the monarchy\u2019s powers – once a taboo subject – as well as demands for the departure of former junta leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a new constitution and an end to the harrasment of opposition activists.<\/p>\n

Students have led protests almost daily for the past month, but Sunday\u2019s demonstration drew a broader crowd in the Southeast Asian country, which has experienced decades of protests punctuated by military coups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want a new election and a new parliament from the people,\u201d student activist Patsalawalee Tanakitwiboonpon, 24, told the crowd. \u201cLastly, our dream is to have a monarchy which is truly under the constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO READ:\u00a0British government faces mounting pressure over exam row<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Organisers of the Free People movement and police said there were over 10,000 people at the protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prime minister sends his concern to officials and protesters to avoid violence,\u201d Traisulee Traisoranakul, a government spokeswoman, told reporters. She said Prayuth had also ordered the cabinet to take steps to build understanding between generations.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate comment from the Royal Palace.<\/p>\n

Prayuth won elections last year that the opposition says were held under rules to ensure that he kept power. The most vocal opposition party was subsequently banned.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Anger has further been fuelled by accusations of corruption, the arrest of some student leaders over earlier protests and the economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing a shift in strategy of the youth-led movement becoming more inclusive,\u201d said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of political science at Ubon Ratchathani University, citing their emphasis on the economy as well as politics.<\/p>\n

Some student groups have also presented 10 reforms they seek to the monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn – including curbing his powers over the constitution, the royal fortune and the armed forces.<\/p>\n

\u2018DOWN WITH FEUDALISM\u2019<\/h3>\n

\u201cDown with feudalism, long live the people,\u201d protesters chanted. \u201cWe will no longer be dust for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thailand\u2019s lese majeste law sets a penalty of up to 15 years for criticising the monarchy, but Prayuth has said the king requested that it not be used for now.<\/p>\n

As the anti-government protest got underway, several dozen royalists also held a demonstration, waving national flags and holding up gold-framed portraits of the king and other royals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care if they protest against the government but they cannot touch the monarchy,\u201d said Sumet Trakulwoonnoo, a leader of the royalist group, Coordination Center of Vocational Students for the Protection of National Institutions (CVPI).<\/p>\n

Critics accuse the monarchy of helping extend the army\u2019s hold on politics in Thailand, where there have been 13 successful coups since the end of absolute royal rule in 1932.<\/p>\n

Before the 2014 coup, Bangkok was roiled by more than a decade of often violent clashes between yellow shirt royalist protesters and rival red shirts loyal to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.<\/p>\n

The new wave of protests has not been violent so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am old now and can never achieve my goal,\u201d said former red shirt protester Ueng Poontawee, 62. \u201cNow there are new faces. I am very happy they came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the more than nine-hour protest dispersed, a group of the activists marched to a nearby police station to challenge officers to arrest them if there were warrants against them on charges of organising previous protests.<\/p>\n

The police did not arrest anyone and the activists then left. Police made no comment to media.<\/p>\n

Three student leaders have been charged over accusations of breaching restrictions in organising previous protests. They have been released on bail, but police say arrest warrants have been issued for a further 12 protest leaders while others are under investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on\u00a0 Sunday in by far the biggest anti-government demonstration since a 2014 coup. There were cheers […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,7],"tags":[362,834],"coauthors":[25],"class_list":{"0":"post-4402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"category-top-news","9":"category-world","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-thai-protest"},"yoast_head":"\nBiggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government - The Daily Leaks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on Sunday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government - The Daily Leaks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on Sunday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Daily Leaks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"728\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Daily Leaks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Daily Leaks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Daily Leaks\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f8c925b649b1f97adbac950d1c3b3c35\"},\"headline\":\"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\"},\"wordCount\":646,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Government\",\"Thai protest\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Latest News\",\"Top News\",\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\",\"name\":\"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government - The Daily Leaks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on Sunday\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":728,\"caption\":\"A pro-democracy protester raising his hands reacts during a rally to demand the government to resign, to dissolve the parliament and to hold new elections under a revised constitution, near the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand, August 16, 2020. REUTERS\/Athit Perawongmetha\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Daily Leaks\",\"description\":\"Leaking the news to you daily\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Daily Leaks\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/cropped-the-daily.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/cropped-the-daily.jpg\",\"width\":951,\"height\":236,\"caption\":\"The Daily Leaks\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f8c925b649b1f97adbac950d1c3b3c35\",\"name\":\"The Daily Leaks\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9ed634616a92b4752ad81e6ecd82f685\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4ac76dd2b10941f8d9f5c1476c92cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4ac76dd2b10941f8d9f5c1476c92cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Daily Leaks\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government - The Daily Leaks","description":"More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on Sunday","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government - The Daily Leaks","og_description":"More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on Sunday","og_url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/","og_site_name":"The Daily Leaks","article_published_time":"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":728,"url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Daily Leaks","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Daily Leaks","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/"},"author":{"name":"The Daily Leaks","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f8c925b649b1f97adbac950d1c3b3c35"},"headline":"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government","datePublished":"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/"},"wordCount":646,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg","keywords":["Government","Thai protest"],"articleSection":["Latest News","Top News","World"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/","url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/","name":"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government - The Daily Leaks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-16T23:01:51+00:00","description":"More than 10,000 Thai protesters chanting \u201cdown with dictatorship\u201d and \u201cthe country belongs to the people\u201d rallied in Bangkok on Sunday","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg","width":1080,"height":728,"caption":"A pro-democracy protester raising his hands reacts during a rally to demand the government to resign, to dissolve the parliament and to hold new elections under a revised constitution, near the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand, August 16, 2020. REUTERS\/Athit Perawongmetha"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biggest-thai-protest-in-years-puts-pressure-on-government\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Biggest Thai protest in years puts pressure on government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/","name":"The Daily Leaks","description":"Leaking the news to you daily","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#organization","name":"The Daily Leaks","url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/cropped-the-daily.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/cropped-the-daily.jpg","width":951,"height":236,"caption":"The Daily Leaks"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f8c925b649b1f97adbac950d1c3b3c35","name":"The Daily Leaks","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9ed634616a92b4752ad81e6ecd82f685","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4ac76dd2b10941f8d9f5c1476c92cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4ac76dd2b10941f8d9f5c1476c92cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Daily Leaks"},"url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screenshot_20200816-234811-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4405,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4402\/revisions\/4405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4402"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}