Thai Protest Leaders Parade Against Lese Majeste Law

Date: 20 December 2020 - 21:10

News ID: ۸۵۶۷۶

BANGKOK (Reuters) -- Some of Thailand’s highest profile protest leaders dressed in crop tops and paraded at a Bangkok shopping mall on Sunday in a jibe against King Maha Vajiralongkorn to demand the repeal of the law against insulting the monarchy.
The crop top is a reference to pictures showing the king dressed in one which have appeared in European tabloids in recent years.
Among at least 35 activists currently facing charges under the lese majeste law is 16-year-old Napasin Trirayapiwat, who wore a crop top and had anti-monarchy slogans written on his midriff at a protest.
"If we don’t fight for Naphasin today, nobody will be safe from expressing their opinions,” said Parit ‘Penguin’ Chiwarak, who is also facing royal insult charges which can mean up to 15 years in prison.
The United Nations human rights office called on Thailand on Friday to amend the lese majeste law. The government responded that it was similar to libel laws.
Thais voted nationwide on Sunday in provincial elections that mark the first test of democracy since a general election last year that drew accusations of manipulation and helped spawn months of youth protests.
The elections in Thailand’s 76 provinces outside the capital Bangkok are the first since Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who kept power after last year’s ballot, overthrew an elected government in a military coup.
Among the parties putting up candidates is the Progressive Movement, which has its roots in the now banned Future Forward Party of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
Thanathorn had emerged as the most vocal challenger to Prayuth. When he and his party were banned from politics, it prompted protests demanding the removal of Prayuth, a new constitution and reforms to the powerful monarchy.
Prayuth rejects accusations that he engineered the general election to keep power.
Although the party backing him in parliament is not formally putting up candidates in the provincial elections, contestants in races across the country are making clear their loyalty to his camp.
The elections are also a test for the Pheu Thai Party linked to populist former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In opposition it remains the largest party in Thailand’s parliament.
Thaksin, who rarely comments in public from self-exile since being overthrown in 2006, has posted on Twitter to encourage people to support the party ahead of provincial elections, in which powerful families traditionally hold local sway.