Bangkok’s Bold Bunch: Thais Take the Streets to Call for Royal Reforms
On Sunday, November 14, thousands of Thai youngsters marched through Bangkok’s heart, demanding a revamp of the monarchy—even after a court ruled that such pushes were a sneaky way to topple the royal institution.
From Prime‑Minister Scrutiny to Royal Reflections
What started last year as a youth‑led drive to unseat former coup‑leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan‑ocha (66) has now become the most daring challenge in decades to Thailand’s constitutionally protected monarchy. The protesters keep pounding drums of change, chanting “No absolute monarchy” and “Reform is not abolition.”
What the Protesters Are Saying
- “The king’s growing powers are pulling Thailand away from democracy and back to absolute monarchy,” a demonstrator read from a placard that reached the German embassy.
- “This is a fight to insist that this country must be ruled by a system in which everyone is equal,” another voice echoed.
- During a follow‑up march to the German embassy last October, some teens urged Germany to sniff around whether King Maha Vajiralongkorn was running state business from abroad.
Peeyawith Ploysuwan’s Take
25‑year‑old Peeyawith said, “The word ‘reform’ isn’t the same as abolition. Authorities want only their own version of things, see everyone with a different view as the villain. If society stays like this, how do we move forward?”
Breaking the Silence
These protests have shattered long‑held taboos in Thailand, where speaking against the monarchy can land one in prison. Since the demonstrations began, at least 157 Thai lawyers record have been charged under the lese majeste law. Sunday’s rally was sparked by the Constitutional Court’s decision that a 2019 call for reforms, voiced by three protest leaders in August, was unconstitutional and aimed to knock down the institution.
Three protesters were wounded on Sunday, police said, and the situation is under investigation.
