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Thai anti-govt demonstrators oppose king's military command

Sunday, 29 November 2020 11:28 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 29 November 2020 11:33 AM ]

A Buddhist monk stands with pro-democracy protesters waiting to take part in an anti-government rally outside the 11th Infantry Regiment in Bangkok on November 29, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand have protested their powerful monarch’s personal control over certain military units and criticized the role of the army in the Southeast Asian country’s politics.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in central capital Bangkok on Sunday to march to the 11th Infantry Regiment, one of the two units that were moved under the King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s command in 2019.

In open defiance of the king, the protesters accused the monarchy of enabling decades of military domination and the involvement of army officials in political decisions.

“An army should belong to the people, not the king,” Parit Chiwarak, one of the protest leaders, told reporters. “In a democratic system, the king is not responsible for directing command of the military.”

Parit is among several protest organizers that already face charges over insulting the monarchy during his speeches at previous rallies.

Criticism of the monarchy can be punished with 15 years in jail under Thailand’s constitutional laws.

The latest rally came a few days after thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in the Thai capital, calling on the country’s monarch to relinquish control of royal funds worth tens of billions of dollars, despite an escalated crackdown on protests.

Thousands protest in Thai capital, urging king to relinquish control of funds

Thousands of anti-government protesters gather in the Thai capital of Bangkok, calling on the country’s monarch to relinquish control of royal funds worth tens of billions of dollars.

Protesters accused the king of wasting taxpayers’ money and said the monarchy's private wealth should be separated from the crown funds.

The protests, which began across Thailand in July, initially targeted Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha but later called for the monarch to be more transparently accountable under the constitution and for the reversal of changes that gave the current king personal control of the royal fortune and some military units.

Dozens of protesters, including many of the most prominent protest leaders, have been arrested on a variety of charges in recent months.

Prayuth has rejected demands that he quit along with their accusations that he engineered last year’s election to keep power that he first took from an elected government in 2014.

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