On October 6, 1976, leftist activists and students from Bangkok’s Thammasat University gathered on campus to protest the return of Thailand’s former dictator, Thanom Kittikachorn. They clashed with royalist, right-wing paramilitaries who assaulted, abused, beat, and burned the protesters, desecrating their bodies. This massacre — Thailand’s own Tiananmen Square incident — saw the killing of 46 students and wounding of another 167, though unofficial reports theorize that these figures could be much higher.
More than four decades later, the students at Thammasat University are taking to the same yard with vigorous cries for democracy. Political turmoil continues to plague Thailand, and the country’s young people have suffered the consequences. Now, they protest for their future as much as their past.
Institutional Instability
In 2014, a coup led by current prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power from Thailand’s elected representatives and established a military junta. After years of bureaucratic corruption, social inequity, and constitutional changes, Chan-ocha took advantage of public distrust of the government, gaining support from the Thai king and promising temporary stability.
Following the 2019 general election, however, Chan-ocha held on to power rather than ending military rule as he had initially vowed. The purportedly “democratic” process was widely considered rigged as the junta forcibly dissolved a notable opposition party and recent election reforms advantaged Chan-ocha’s party. Most egregiously, the ruling party changed the electoral voting system to include the full parliament instead of solely the house, meaning 250 of Chan-ocha’s newly appointed Senate members would each have a vote in the parliamentary system.
Frustrated and deceived by power-grabs and democratic backsliding, Thailand’s young people harbor a fundamental distrust of traditional institutions. Instead, influenced by the Western ideal of freedom, students across the country developed a populist agenda and progressive values counter to the country’s growing tyranny.
Thailand’s formerly revered monarchy is now at the heart of these criticisms. In 2016, Thailand’s longest-reigning monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, passed away after 70 years as the union of Thai culture and tradition. After his death, Thailand entered a new era of uncertainty, crowning the only son of the former monarch, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
King Vajiralongkorn is a controversial figure in stark contrast to his revered father. Since he lived much of his life abroad in Germany and Switzerland, many in Thailand view him as an outsider. After quarantining in the Bavarian Alps and spending over $31 million on his coronation, the extravagant lifestyle of the king came under scrutiny. The Thai king presides over more than $70 billion, making him one of the wealthiest monarchs in the world. In 2018, a law was passed to provide King Vajiralongkorn direct control of all royal assets — which he subsequently misappropriated.
Critics characterize the king as a pampered sovereign, and many consider his spending entirely inappropriate as Thailand’s economy contracts to record lows. The media questions his ability to establish the legitimacy and moral authority that his father commanded so intimately. Either way, Thailand peers behind the aureate curtains — a mere shell of patriotism for the land they call home.
A University-Based Movement
Across the country, tens of thousands of Thai university students have banded together in solidarity, forming the most extensive Thai socio-political movement in almost a decade. Disillusioned from previously deified monarchy and emboldened by global pro-democracy demonstrations such as those in Hong Kong, Thai activists have seized their futures and refused to let history repeat itself.
From Thammasat University to the Grand Palace, their demands are clear: prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s resignation, the protection of civil liberties in the constitution, and the limitation of monarchical power within the constitutional monarchy.
These reforms focus particularly on rectifying the persecution of political opponents. Thai citizens are bound by the anti-sedition Section 116 of the Criminal Code, commonly known as the lèse-majesté law, which strictly prohibits any form of criticism toward the monarchy. Many of the major movement figureheads were arrested in 2016 for contempt of the lèse-majesté, including protest leader Jatuphat “Pai” Boonpattararaksa and leader of the Free Youth Movement Tattep “Ford” Ruangprapaikitseree.
Despite the victimization of student leaders and the rise of COVID-19, in only a year, Thailand’s youth has galvanized passionate voices for change and built revolutionary networks against one of the most repressive regimes in the world.
Representing Royalists and Revolutionaries
At the beginning of 2021, sporadic protests remerged. As protests begin to rise again, the fate of democracy in Thailand is at a crossroads.
The protesters, however, face strong opposition from old guard royalists, due to their anti-monarchical stance. To make progress, it is necessary for both sides to bridge a common understanding between the evolving views of two generations. If Thai youth want to succeed in their quest for democratic representation, they must broaden the movement beyond college campuses.
In closing the divide, the issue of representation should not be one of traditionalists versus progressives nor of fundamentalists versus revisionists. Moreover, it is certainly not an attack of one generation on another. Thailand’s political strife, at its core, is a battle of the country’s past versus its future.
Each Thai revolution creates a power vacuum filled with temporary solutions and false promises, many of which are sponsored by the king himself. These corrupt regressions have long thrived by pitting oppressed groups against each other. In order to build this movement into a democratic revolution, the first step is dissociating religion from the state.
To an older generation, the king serves as a fundamental as not only the head of state and armed forces but also as the upholder of the Buddhist religion. He is the soul of the country, and royalists defend the importance of this monarchical tradition. On the other hand, revolutionaries believe that the Thai government has served the agenda of ruling elites while the king has continued to divide his people by supporting these military governments.
Through cycles of oppression, the Thai monarchy has exploited political instability to build reliance on faith. While the king’s role to represent tradition and ancestry is important, it is more crucial to consider how the monarchy reflects the Thai people.
Every Thai citizen faces insecurity as a result of a lack of government transparency and social instability. With little to no representation, the Thai people have suffered greatly from mismanagement of vaccine access, widening wealth inequality, and increasing racial prejudice. If anything, royalists must find it troubling to be represented by a government that has violently oppressed and persecuted their children and grandchildren.
By expanding conversations and framing education, royalists and anti-royalists alike can separate the king’s theological influence from socio-political challenges.
Amidst the protests in late 2020, King Vajiralongkorn proclaimed Thailand as a “land of compromise.” Thai protesters must hold him liable on this pretty but actionless claim. By fostering conversation and rallying patriotism along with reform, the movement can become more morally accessible. Democracy can prevail under a government that is nationally representative and globally accountable.
Between corruption, censorship, coups, and compromise, the young people of Thailand have a lot on their plate. By building a common consensus to end the cycle of tyranny, the dreams of democracy in Thailand will finally persevere.
Image Credit: Image by Clint Oka is licensed under Unsplash License
