Audacious student protests are rocking Bangkok
But the government looks stronger than it was
IT WAS THE largest demonstration since Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister, seized power in a coup in 2014. On August 16th more than 10,000 protesters flocked to the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital. Student unions and youth groups have led protests for more than a month across the country. They want the government to step down. They demand a new constitution and an end to the harassment of opposition campaigners. More controversially, at a rally at Bangkok’s Thammasat University on August 10th, some agitators openly called for reform of the monarchy, still a strict taboo.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Street cred”
From the August 22nd 2020 edition
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