In one of the largest protests yet, anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok defied authorities in installing a plaque declaring that Thailand ‘belongs to the people’.
The plaque, laid near Bangkok’s Grand Palace in the latest challenge to Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn (whose regal name is Rama X), was intended as a replacement for another marking the end of absolute monarchy in the 1930s, which went missing in 2017, according to a BBC report.
Dated 20 September 2020, the plaque proclaims in Thai: ‘The people have expressed the intention that this country belongs to the people, and not the king.’
Student-led protests calling for reform of the country’s monarchy and political system have been going on since July.
The report says calls for royal reform are particularly sensitive in Thailand, where criticism of the monarchy is punishable by long prison sentences.
Protesters are also demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who took power in a 2014 coup and won disputed elections last year.
Cheers erupted as activists installed the new plaque, with protesters chanting: “Down with feudalism, long live the people.”
Image: King Rama X