Protests Against Coup Continue in Bangkok

By Khaosod

BANGKOK – Student activists have defied the military’s ban on political gatherings of more than five people by continuing to protest the military coup in Bangkok today.

The protests were organised by Thammasat University student activists who call themselves the League of Liberal Thammasat for Democracy (LLTD). Students from other universities and members of the public also joined the demonstration as well.

At 11 a.m. protesters began marching from Thammasat University's Tha Prachan campus down Ratchadamnoen Avenue toward the Grand Palace, passing the Ministry of Interior Affairs and the Supreme Court on the way.

Some placards held by the protesters read, "Let us find the pigeon [symbol of democracy]," "We are coup generation," "Bring me back my damn votes,” and "Anti-Coup."

Security forces kept watch on the demonstrators as they marched, but did not interfere until the group tried to enter the 14 October Uprising Memorial dedicated to the 1973 student protests that toppled the military dictatorship.

The soldiers tried to prevent demonstrators from entering the memorial site. But while some activists were arguing with the soldiers, one motorcycle taxi driver took a placard and sat down on the road in protest, prompting the rest of the group to follow suit.

Large crowds of on lookers, Thai and foreign, started to form around the protesters, forcing the soldiers to retreat and allow the demonstrators into memorial site. Once inside, the demonstrators gave speeches condemning the military coup and sang pro-democracy songs before marching back to Thammasat University at around 1 pm.

Many vendors and motorcycle taxi drivers applauded the activists as they marched along Ratchadamnoen Avenue, while others who disagreed with the students approached the group and argued with the activists. No violence was reported.

Sirawit Serithiwat, a member of LLTD, said that the demonstration was meant to show that many students and citizens are opposed to the military coup – the 12th in Thailand's political history.

"I think everyone learned the lesson from the 2006 coup that coups don't solve any problems. In fact, it has made problems worse to this day," Mr. Sirawit said. "The soldiers did not only insult themselves by launching this coup. They also insult the people, because they chose to seize power instead of letting politics solve the problem."

"Democracy should come from the people, not from gun barrels," Mr. Sirawit added.

The activists also called on the administration of Thammasat University to publicly oppose the coup and urge the military to return power to the people without delay.

The protest occurred amid the intensifying effort by the coupmakers to crackdown on media and political freedom. Dozens of activists have been detained and media sites blacked-out in the first 24 hours of the military takeover.

Another anti-coup protest is also underway at the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre in downtown Bangkok.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1400842092&section=11&typecate=06

-- Khaosod English 2014-05-23

"They also insult the people, because they chose to seize power instead of letting politics solve the problem"

Where has Sirawit Serithiwat been the last six months ?

"They also insult the people, because they chose to seize power instead of letting politics solve the problem"

Where has Sirawit Serithiwat been the last six months ?

Apparently with his head berried deep, deep, in something. Sand and or asses would be my guess.

No one knows yet what General Prayuth's real intentions are. He has good reason to worry about resistance. The pro-government Red-Shirt movement is far better organised than eight years ago, and could still be financed by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's deep pockets.

Johnathan Head on the bbc website.

Seems to be rather a change of heart from him.

The Army should confiscate their iPhones then they would all start crying.

I take my hat off to them for having the balls to go out there and protest in this touchy political climate.

Really am hesitating to comment on any posts today because I do not want to be involved in any responses about the politics and who was at fault and how/why etc. None of my business to be honest and as someone schooled in UK left of centre/liberal leaning/card carrying unionist style politics what happens here in Bangkok is totally different to anything I am used to. However I have a certain amount of sympathy for idealistic students, spent enough time of my student years carrying placards on student demos not to recognise the frustrations they are feeling.

My main emotional feeling today is one of distaste to be honest, having taken for granted all my life the ability to vote for the political party of my choosing, but abide by what the electorate at large decides, to see how easy that can be lost in a country like Thailand just leaves me saddened, and unhappy to find myself living in country where the courts and army have removed a government voted into power by a one person one vote electorate. Somehow Thailand has been tainted in my mind and heart by all of this. Sorry, just how I feel.

Bloody hell, another new acronym. Thailand, the HUB of ACRONYMS.

As of today, these students do not know how good they have it.

Hey, smart guys...... go home and come up with a plan to eliminate machine politics while keeping representative democracy.

A much larger service to the nation, so get with it!

Prayuth: The world salutes you

Huh??? Did I miss that?

I take my hat off to them for having the balls to go out there and protest in this touchy political climate.

Sorry , but it seems you live up to your name..... 99% of them were girls..

I take my hat off to them for having the balls to go out there and protest in this touchy political climate.

And I taking my hat off for their flexibility.....being a commie but also taking money from the man in Dubai.....that is flexible thinking.

After several months of protest with nearly daily grenade attacks and shooting killing even innocent children going shopping to a Mall finally someone ( the army) did something to stop this chaos and try to restore peace and order . In my opinion they waited too long to interfere better late than never . Politicians from both sides had time enough to clear up the mess but it did not look like they were capable of this not before Xmas .

The Coup generation - Brave students!

"...in country where the courts and army have removed a government..."

You are, of course, aware that "the government" was dissolved some months ago by Yingluck and the military has stepped in to attempt to bring an end to the partisan violence on both sides and an acting caretaker P.M. with a cabinet in tatters has stepped down after much pressure. A bit different to what you are used to obviously.

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Where are the students coming from? I thought it was summer holiday.

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• Students protest.
• They protest against one of the best changes ever.
• They all passed their exams, by the way without a single 'F'.
• They are all so educated, they know what they are talking about.
• They don't ride motor-cycles with neither helmets nor licences
• They are not trouble makers, and understand eveything about Thailand putting a finger up to the world (and ASEAN)

Oh my Buddha!

"...in country where the courts and army have removed a government..."

You are, of course, aware that "the government" was dissolved some months ago by Yingluck and the military has stepped in to attempt to bring an end to the partisan violence on both sides and an acting caretaker P.M. with a cabinet in tatters has stepped down after much pressure. A bit different to what you are used to obviously.

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I think everybody is aware that Yingluck dissolved Parliament in order to hold elections according to the constitution.

What then followed was the collusion of yellow-shirt thugs and the Election Commission to prevent that election from taking place.

The shame, but no surprise, is that the army did not step in months ago when the corrupt courts claimed the yellow thugs to be 'peaceful protestors'.

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I am happy the Army showed sense here,this could easily have gone the other way and a massacre ensued,generally once the first shot is fired everyone else starts shooting,let's just hope that that does not happen,credit to the Officers in charge for showing initiative and not letting their men unload.

Really am hesitating to comment on any posts today because I do not want to be involved in any responses about the politics and who was at fault and how/why etc. None of my business to be honest and as someone schooled in UK left of centre/liberal leaning/card carrying unionist style politics what happens here in Bangkok is totally different to anything I am used to. However I have a certain amount of sympathy for idealistic students, spent enough time of my student years carrying placards on student demos not to recognise the frustrations they are feeling.

My main emotional feeling today is one of distaste to be honest, having taken for granted all my life the ability to vote for the political party of my choosing, but abide by what the electorate at large decides, to see how easy that can be lost in a country like Thailand just leaves me saddened, and unhappy to find myself living in country where the courts and army have removed a government voted into power by a one person one vote electorate. Somehow Thailand has been tainted in my mind and heart by all of this. Sorry, just how I feel.

I respect where you come from. However, one person, one vote with people voting freely for their candidate is one thing. The other side of this is people being coerced into voting for Thaksin through the creation of Red villages and through the social pressure within the community that comes from not voting red. So sadly, the view that Thailand has had democratic elections in the past few years is totally misguided. This is the reason that I support the military whom I believe genuinely want reform and clean politics. Like you, I was a student activist and also a member of staff of a major human rights NGO. I was a member of the Chile Solidarity Campaign in 1976 following the bloody coup in Chile. I cannot compare what happened then to what is happening in Thailand now. People here still do not understand how deep and damaging Thaksin's actions have been, so when commenting on the coup you have to understand what the nation has been up against for a few years with Thaksin's obscene lust for power.

The General appears to have given the 'political leaders' ample space to come to an agreement. If they had done so, then Thailand would not be in the situation it is now and the military would have facilitated the road to reform. Sadly, the reds appear to have wanted everything their own way with no flexibility.

What may come out of this is more damning evidence of the damage that the Shin clan have actually perpetrated on this country.

Go think on it.

I am happy the Army showed sense here,this could easily have gone the other way and a massacre ensued,generally once the first shot is fired everyone else starts shooting,let's just hope that that does not happen,credit to the Officers in charge for showing initiative and not letting their men unload.

It was just a cheap shot trying to create another Tammasart University Massacre. They were massacred then because they were communists and Thailand was involved in the war with communist Vietnam. Thaksin is still out there pulling strings. The head needs to be removed before the beast will die.

I am happy the Army showed sense here,this could easily have gone the other way and a massacre ensued,generally once the first shot is fired everyone else starts shooting,let's just hope that that does not happen,credit to the Officers in charge for showing initiative and not letting their men unload.

I was just walking by there on my way home. Yeah, the soldiers were showing much restraint, they were standing off to the side out of view bc if anyone of them did come into view it just provoked the protesters. Another truck of 5 or 10 showed up and they too went to the side. I've seen some pictures on twitter since I came home and the soldiers are in the street now. Its dark too, lets hope the protesters go home and call it a day.

Why do people think the military want "clean politics"?

They benefit from the corruption just as much as everyone else does and they help the side that benefits them the most.

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Bloody hell, another new acronym. Thailand, the HUB of ACRONYMS. alt=facepalm.gif>

I've always wondered about these acronyms. Why do Thai's use English acronyms. Or is it just English newspapers that make them up when translating the Thai name ?

The Army should confiscate their iPhones then they would all start crying.

yep, probably right there. What I find annoying, is that often around the world, students get involved, and everything turns into a mess! They have no understanding of where democracy comes from or what it should be. Why can't they sit, watch, and learn from it. But no, these days it looks cool to be a rebel when you are a teenager.

Whilst bribing the poor people of the North East to vote for the reds is allowed to continue there will be no end to this problem. Free and fair elections are legitimate in their outcome, bribing people to vote for the reds taints the outcome.

It's no good saying the peasants and poor people would still vote red, we need a clean election to prove that right or wrong.

Other than the fact there's a military coup underway and that they have banned gatherings of over 5 people, don't they have as much right to protest as the PDRC did for 7 months?

They could be protesting because the toilet paper is not 4 ply but 2 ply for all on sundry, does it really matter to any of you why they're protesting ?, are they harming you in any shape or form? If anything you should be praising them for giving you all something to whine about

Why can't they sit, watch, and learn from it. But no, these days it looks cool to be a rebel when you are a teenager.

Plus most of them have watched Les Miserables. How noble the student rebels! (Can't you hear the people singing?)

I am happy the Army showed sense here,this could easily have gone the other way and a massacre ensued,generally once the first shot is fired everyone else starts shooting,let's just hope that that does not happen,credit to the Officers in charge for showing initiative and not letting their men unload.

It was just a cheap shot trying to create another Tammasart University Massacre. They were massacred then because they were communists and Thailand was involved in the war with communist Vietnam. Thaksin is still out there pulling strings. The head needs to be removed before the beast will die.

Some people just shouldn't be let near a computer. Have you any idea what you are talking about?

Soldiers are not Policemen, it's always a very difficult role when you have to assume the responsibility of law and order, soldiers don't have the same tolerance level as coppers, they are trained for combat, these young squaddies are in a tough position, they're between a rock and a hard place right now.