The Thai capital enters a “very state of emergency”
Anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok continued to ferment. The Thai government issued an announcement at 4 am on the 15th, announcing that the Bangkok area will immediately enter a “very state of emergency” and prohibit gatherings of more than 5 people. Violators will be arrested and detained for up to 30 days. However, thousands of demonstrators continued to protest against the regulations on Thursday. In the morning, more than 20 people were arrested.
On the 15th, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered at the Rachabasong intersection in Bangkok, demanding that the government release the protesters who were arrested that morning. Although the government has declared Bangkok a “very state of emergency”, the Thai police appear to have not taken action against the protesters.
On the morning of the 15th, Thai student leaders urged supporters to take to the streets on social media. According to Thailand’s “Bangkok Post”, the police arrested more than 20 protesters who had illegally assembled and resisted the police’s dispersal, including three organizers of the rally.
On the day of the public protest on the 15th, Thai Prime Minister Prayut signed an announcement declaring that Wednesday’s rally was “not a peaceful assembly recognized by the Constitution”, causing chaos, disrupting the royal family’s motorcade, and threatening national stability and public safety. And it is not conducive to preventing the new crown pneumonia epidemic, so it must be stopped in time.
Since July this year, a series of anti-government demonstrations have broken out in Thailand. Demonstrators have put forward demands for constitutional amendment and monarchy reform. The Associated Press stated that it was an “shocking turn” that Thai demonstrators began to criticize the royal family and monarchy. Agence France-Presse quoted Titinan, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University, as saying that the current situation in Bangkok is “unstable.”
According to Thailand’s “World Daily” report, Prayut will hold a cabinet meeting on Friday to explain the situation regarding the announcement of the state of emergency. According to the law, the Prime Minister of Thailand has the right to make an independent decision to issue a state of emergency announcement, but he must notify the cabinet meeting within 3 days to get the approval of the cabinet meeting. Student leaders who participated in the rally at Ratchabasong Crossing on the 15th said that they called on the people to gather in this area again at 5 pm on the 16th to counter the government’s “extreme state of emergency” and declare the three major demands of the people.
