Bangkok commuters are advised to avoid the Kiak Kai area from 6am on Tuesday as the pro-democracy group Ratsadon is planning to hold a rally outside the Parliament complex from 3pm onwards.
A Facebook post by Free Youth group on Sunday said Ratsadon group has decided to surround Parliament through air, land and water channels and will not leave until lawmakers accept the public’s draft, which aims to reform the monarchy and ensure it comes under the Constitution.
Pol Maj-General Jirasan Kaewsangek, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the area around Parliament is normally jampacked, especially during rush hour, and the protest will only worsen things.
Hence, he said, commuters should avoid Samsen Road (Bang Krabue-Kiak Kai intersection), Pracharat 1 Road (Kiak Kai-Bang Pho intersection) and Thahan Road (Kiak Kai-Saphan Daeng intersection).
He added that traffic police will be stationed in the area to ensure traffic flow and ease impact on the public.
Motorists can call the Traffic Control and Command Centre’s 1197 hotline, use M-Help Me smartphone application, or visit the Traffic Police Division’s website for more information.
Two pro-democracy protesters showed up at Government House at around noon on Monday to put up a banner reading: “How long do dictators want to stay in power?” and pour out cat and dog food underneath it for “Prayut Chan-o-cha and his owner”.
They then announced that rallies will be held across the nation next Monday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut, a more democratic Constitution and reform of the monarchy.
This action was done in full view of riot police officers, who were stationed outside Government House to deal with protesters in case they show up in large numbers.
Roads nearby were also closed and barriers put up around the complex. The police chief was also at hand to ensure no violence is used against protesters if they try to break through the barriers.
By THE NATIONOver 300 pro-democracy students and the general public gathered at Tha Phae Gate, a tourist landmark in Chiang Mai’s Muang district, from 5pm on Sunday, in a political protest against dictatorship, urging Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down.
The rally was led by the Chiang Mai Students for Democracy group.
During the event, protest leaders took turns in giving anti-government speeches on a stage, with a fashion show and other performances during intermission. There was also an art exhibition and free food handout in nearby areas for participants and the general public.
The rally went on till 8pm when the participants dispersed. Local police officers were closely monitoring the situation.
Watchapat Thammajak, a protest leader and law student at Chiang Mai University who is currently under investigation on charges relating to organising a rally, said that on Sunday he was just a participant who was glad to see pro-democracy activity still being organised and joined in by the public.
“In the past month, there was no activity by students in Chiang Mai because it was the exam period,” he said. “Students have not backed down from expressing their political views and we will continue organising rallies until the government complies with our demand.”
Pro-democracy protesters of the “Ratsadon” group are planning a rally outside Parliament on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post by Free Youth group on Sunday.
“On November 17, which is the first day of the meeting to consider the draft of the amended constitution submitted by the public, the Ratsadon group will surround Parliament by air, land and water channels,” the group said. “After the draft consideration has been postponed and delayed for more than a month, it finally entered the Parliament process.
“We will gather at Parliament near the Kiak Kai intersection from 3pm onwards, and will not leave until Parliament accepts the public’s draft, which aims to reform the monarchy by bringing them under the constitution,” it added. “This is a historic moment for Thailand. Please come out and join us to ensure a better future for everyone.”
Royalists’ offer tepid response to ‘Mob Fest’, call for end to politics of protests
PoliticsNov 15. 2020A small group of royalists gather outside the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration headquarters on Sunday.
By The Nation
A small group of royalists gathered on the ground outside the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) headquarters on Sunday, in response to the “Mob Fest” organised by some pro-democracy groups on Saturday.
The royalists, who called themselves “Vocational students protecting the monarchy”, comprised aged people who were former vocational students.
Their gathering on Sunday was in response to “Mob Fest”, in which thousands of people took part on Saturday at Democracy Monument, near the BMA headquarters.
The royalists view the demand of pro-democracy protesters for reform of the monarchy as an attempt to overthrow the highest institution. Pro-democracy protesters have insisted that they just want to reform the Palace, making it more transparent and accountable to the taxpayer.
The royalists called for the pro-democracy demonstrators to stop their political activities.
Pro-democracy and pro-monarchy demonstrators also held separate rallies in Rayong province on Sunday.
Street protests have intensified in recent months after anti-government protesters stepped up their activities, while coalition government politicians have been allegedly mobilising yellow-shirts to counter the pro-democracy movement.
Parliament will for the first time debate seven drafts of constitutional amendments on November 17 and 18. The efforts have been both welcomed as an attempt to solve the ongoing political conflicts, and also dismissed as a time-buying tactic of government MPs and the 250 senators appointed to the Senate by the junta.
Some participants in a political rally last Sunday face prosecution in two cases — violation of the public assembly act and the Act on maintenance of cleanliness and orderliness — police said on Friday.
Deputy Metropolitan Police chief Pol Maj-General Piya Tawichai said that 14 people face prosecution for violation of the public assembly act, while three will be charged with violating maintenance of cleanliness and orderliness.
The deputy chief said that police would check letters people had dropped in mock mail boxes, prepared by the rally organiser.
At last Sunday’s demonstration, the protest organisers had urged pro-democracy supporters to write letters to His Majesty the King. These letters were confiscated by police on Sunday evening, including the mock mail box.
Piya said that the message in the letters would be checked, as it could be related to the violation of the public assembly act.
Police also will investigate and prosecute those who damaged public buses that officials had used as barriers in the rally.
Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has warned that the solution to Thailand’s political crisis will be blocked if Parliament votes no to charter change on November 17-18.
Abhisit criticised the junta-drafted 2017 Constitution for suppressing democracy and said more political unrest would follow unless it was rewritten.
“Resignation [of the prime minister] and dissolution [of Parliament] without changing the rules will bring back the same problems,” Abhisit told a seminar on the Constitution and Thailand’s future on Friday.
Escalating pro-democracy protests are demanding the prime minister quit, Parliament be dissolved and the Constitution be rewritten.
“Acceptance of the charter rewrite will show that people in power are listening to [opposition] demands and truly want to open avenues for discussion that will lead to changes in Parliament,” said Abhisit.
He expects MPs and senators to approve some of the seven charter-change drafts tabled next week but said this would not heal the political divide. However, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha could show he was sincere about resolving the crisis by prioritising the charter rewrite as the solution, he added.
The same seminar was organised by the Thai Journalists Association, Committee of Relatives of the Black May 1992 Heroes, the Campaign for Popular Democracy, and other civil society organisations.
Adul Khiewboriboon, chairman of the Black May relatives committee, said he had initially backed Prayut to solve the political unrest, but the PM had now become an obstacle to rewriting the charter and should resign.
Pichai Rattanadilok na Phuket, a political science lecturer, said unelected senators represented the interests of the elite, who were trying to preserve nepotism in Thai politics and blocking amendment of Section 256 to pave the way for a charter-rewriting assembly.
Their action only diminished their elite-given credibility as showed they were not listening to the people’s demands, he added.
Sudarat Keyuraphan, chairwoman of Institute for Thailand Transformation, said past political conflicts occurred during times of greater stability, but fragile current conditions were now threatening violence that would drag the country over a precipice.
Prayut was wrong to claim he had done nothing wrong, she added, since he placed himself at the centre of the conflict by seizing power with an organisation that cannot be scrutinised and violating the Constitution.
“The current Constitution deprives people of rights and concentrates power in one spot, stopping the country from thriving. The solution is for the premier to listen and solve the problems in good faith, not just focus on clinging on to power.”
She said the government had no sincerity in amending the charter and was using the Constitutional Court as legal tool to favour itself.
It could redeem itself by preparing MPs and senators to accept charter amendment and set a deadline of December for consideration of drafts, before organising a referendum to vote on a new Constitution, she added.
Senator Kamnoon Sidhisamarn told the seminar he accepted the amendment to curb the Senate’s power but said most senators did not.
The pro-democracy “Bad Students” group has informed the of its plan to rally outside the Education Ministry on Saturday, while human-rights lawyer Arnon Nampa said this was just the beginning of a much larger movement.
The Bad Students Facebook page said that two of its representatives had gone to Chanasongkram Police Station on Friday to submit documents detailing their plan to kick off the rally outside the ministry on Ratchadamnoen Road at 1pm.
The group will then march to Democracy Monument to join the “Mob Fest” event supported by several pro-democracy movements.
Arnon, meanwhile, posted a comment on his Facebook page saying that number of protesters has not dropped as claimed by the government.
The National Security Council had announced on Thursday that anti-government numbers were falling.
He said the government should take care its actions do not rouse further anger, or it will find the protests rising to an uncontrollable peak.
Arnon said the protests at this point have not reached their highest point, because several important factors are not ready.
“This is the first three months after monarchy reform was first mentioned. People are getting over their fear and are searching for a better future. This is just the beginning,” he said.
The wife of Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao was handed a job in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat by the PM, not of the former position holder, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Thursday.
Government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul said the Cabinet had agreed to give Thanaphon Sirawat, a former beauty queen, a position in the office effective from Tuesday. The move triggered accusations of nepotism.
Thammanat had earlier claimed his wife got the position after the former holder resigned to help run a local politician’s election campaign, and that he had no idea she had been offered the job until he saw her name on the list of new staff appointments.
When asked whether the former position holder could choose his/her successor, Wissanu said, “That is not how it works. The prime minister is the one appoints new officials in his Secretariat, as well as assistants to ministers. Certain candidates might be nominated, but the final decision is reserved for the PM’s discretion.”
Thammanat has managed to keep his job as deputy agriculture minister despite records that show he served four years in an Australian jail for heroin smuggling in the 1990s. His case has prompted questions about the transparency of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.
An opposition Pheu Thai MP has slammed some Palang Pracharat MP’s and the Senate’s move to take an amendment issue to court, saying this was just an excuse to delay moves to change the charter.
The ruling party’s MPs and Senate wanted the Constitutional Court to see if the opposition’s moves to amend the current charter was in violation of the supreme law or not.
Pheu Thai MP for Ubon Ratchathani Somkid Chuakong attacked this action on Thursday saying this was just a delay tactic.
“This is not in line with the prime minister’s statement that the Constitution will be amended as soon as possible,” he said.
Somkid said the government should be sincere and ensure its MPs and the Senate does not step out of line. He said that the government should be putting out the fire of the ongoing political conflict instead of adding more firewood to the flames.
Photo by Supakit Khumkun 
A small group of royalists gather outside the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration headquarters on Sunday. 
Somkid Chuakong 
SootinClaimon.Com 