Emergency Declared in Thailand – Burning Issues

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The ongoing 2020 Thai protests are a series of protests against the government of Prayut Chan-o-cha which have included demands for reform of the Thai monarchy.
Formally started in Feb, 2020. Bought to a halt by the Pandemic. Then resumed again in July 2020.

Demands:

A 19 September rally saw 20,000–100,000 protesters and has been described as an open challenge to King Vajiralongkorn. (King of Thailand since 2016)

King Lives in Germany

The king, who lives in Germany and had visited the country only on one-day visits in recent months, arrived on Saturday in Bangkok for what Thais expect to be a longer stay. Since ascending the throne after the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016, the king has taken ownership of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of crown property and put two army regiments under his direct command.

Thailand declared a state of emergency in Bangkok as police and soldiers dispersed demonstrators on Thursday, marking the start of a crackdown on a student-led protest movement.
In an announcement published on Thailand’s Royal Gazette website, the government said it took the measure because of “an action that had an impact on a royal motorcade” carrying members of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s family, as well as national security and economic considerations.

Protesters taunted Queen Suthida, wife of King Vajiralongkorn. They raised their movement’s three-fingered salute and shouted “Our tax money” as she passed. Taunting the queen is an unheard in a country where the monarchy is shielded from public criticism.
Subsequently, about 10,000 antigovernment protesters rallied at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument before marching to Government House, the seat of the Thai government. They broke through police barricades and surrounded the building, pressing their demand for the resignation of Mr Prayuth’s administration.
PM Prayuth Chan-ocha declared the state of emergency.

“It appears that various groups of people have persuaded, incited and carried out a public gathering which is against the public gathering act in Bangkok, creating turbulence, chaos and disorder for people,”
“the achievements of the anti-Covid-19 measures, which directly impacts the economic stability of the country, which is already in a fragile state”.

The group said they were being detained without access to lawyers and that under Thailand’s emergency law they could be held without charge for up to 30 days.
Mr Nampa said that he had been taken to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand by helicopter without a lawyer. “This is a violation of my rights and extremely dangerous to me,” he said in a Facebook post.

Human Rights Watch said that at least 27 people were in police custody, including protest leaders Anon Nampa, Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul.

“With a ‘severe’ state of emergency enforced, Thailand has essentially returned to authoritarian rule under Prayuth Chan-ocha,” Sunai Phasuk, a researcher with Human Rights Watch said. “Authorities now wield broad powers without safeguards and accountability.”

‘ “Like dogs cornered, we are fighting till our deaths,” Panupong “Mike Rayong” Jadnok, one the high-profile protest leaders who remains free, told the crowd. “We won’t fall back. We won’t run away. We won’t go anywhere.”