With tensions continuing to rise between the student-led protest group in Thailand and Thailand’s government, the government imposed a new state of emergency to try and end the three month ongoing protest. With the protesters demanding reform of the monarchy system and the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, over 20 protestors have been arrested. The state of emergency ruling bans gatherings of five or more people and the publication of news articles that could potentially be detrimental to national security. This past wednesday, 10,000 people gathered together in Bangkok to demand change. The arrest of protest leader, Parit Chirawat and Arnon Nampa sparked outrage.
This is the 3rd month of protests. Protestors are demanding change to the monarchy system and a new constitution be written with the help of the people. The government must understand that if 10,000 people are all gathering in one location, there is no end in sight for these protests. With these protests currently being peaceful, how long will that last before there’s a rebellion. As coronavirus is still actively present around the world, these large gatherings of people is allowing Covid-19 to spread easily. These protests will keep dragging on if the Thailand government does not listen to their people to make a peaceful solution to the problem.
The state of Thailand going through a global pandemic while also trying to maintain control over its people has been proven a tricky situation for the government. The head of the government, the monarch, Maha Vajiralongkorn is currently isolating himself in a luxury hotel in the Bavarian Alps. Not even in his own country, Vajiralongkorn should be attempting to control the protests to prevent the global pandemic from spreading anymore. With no end in site to the protests, we must wait and see who will take the next step in either preventing more protests from happening or listening to the protestors to remove the monarchy system and create a new constitution.