What’s happening in Thailand?
Since I’m not seeing many posts or any at all about the current situation in Thailand I decided to make this. More about this on freedomforthai.carrd.co and freedomforthai-en.carrd.co
Since the coup on the 22nd of May, 2014, Thai people have been forced to live under the control of junta government (military dictatorship). The military government has been exercising extreme and incontestable state power to silence and control the people of Thailand for 6 long years.
Freedom of expression is curtailed and those who were brave enough come forward to voice their rightful critique against the junta are silenced with violence.
- There are at least 86 confirmed cases of forced disappearances.
- 191 protesters were monitored by National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) during the election
- At least 197 civilians were charged with Computer Crime Act from speaking up about politics online
- 104 people seeking political asylum in foreign countries after being unlawfully summoned by NCPO, threatened by the military authorities or charged with Act 112 or weapon-related charges. (x)
The current constitution, drafted under the heavy influence of the military and enacted in 2017, allows authoritarianism and abuse of power to thrive even further—at the price of Thai people’s liberty and basic human rights. The law and the corrupt justice system has been weaponized by the military to serve the ruling class and demolish the less fortunate.
Mostly student protesters are stepping up pressure on the military-backed government with calls for greater democracy and less power for the monarchy, a potentially explosive demand just as leaders struggle to handle the country’s worst-ever economic crisis. (x)
People attend an anti-government protest at Thammasat University in Bangkok on Aug. 10th
Photographer: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
(x)
Last night (Aug. 12th) a twitter hashtag #SavePanusaya sprung up after Panusaya ‘Rung’ Sithijirawattanakul, the activist who read monarchy reform proposal posted on Facebook that she is at risk of being arrested by 5 am (GMT+7).
At the Thammasat University demonstration on 10 August, Panusaya read out the organizers’ statement calling for monarchy reform, while insisting that their demands are made in good faith and they are not intending to topple the monarchy.
She is safe currently but another student activist, Parit ‘Penguin’ Chiwarak, a was declared guilty of lese-majeste or article 112th.
Lèse majesté Law in Thailand - criminalized by Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. It is illegal to defame, insult, or threaten the king, queen, heir-apparent, heir-presumptive, or regent. The punishment, last strengthened in 1976, is from three up to 15 years of imprisonment and has been described as the “world’s harshest lèse majesté law”. (x)
I know that with a lot of different things happening around the world, it’s hard to stay informed about political situation in every single country but let’s not ignore the people of Thailand when they ask to spread awareness of the unfair treatment in their country!
You can keep up with the situation on twitter pages @ zenjournalist and @ prachatai_en