By Thai Newsroom Reporters
A SMALL GROUP of students briefly conducted a banner-wielding demonstration in the heart of Bangkok today (22.5.2020) to mark the sixth anniversary of Thailand’s latest coup.
Outside the army headquarters on Rajadamnern Avenue, 10-member students of the Popular Student Network for Democracy demonstrated with banners saying ”Gray Army” and ”Defense Budget Cut for COVID Treatment.”
The mask-wearing demonstrators proceeded to a road just outside Government House, barely a kilometre away, with a huge banner saying “2,191 Days with Dictatorial Rule.”
The token demonstrations outside the army headquarters and Government House were apparently a self-contained, quiet expression of protest against the coup, staged on May 22, 2014, by then-army chief Prayut Chan-o-cha and a few other military commanders to depose an elected government under former premier Yingluck Shinawatra.
The junta seized power in the bloodless coup, citing lack of public peace and order or compromise between the besieged government and anti-government protesters who had shut down roads, public facilities and government premises.
Prayut has managed to prolong his rule following last year’s election, which saw him retain his premiership, albeit in disputable fashion.
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Top: Soldiers hold their weapons as they guard a road in central Bangkok on May 23, 2014, a day after the Thai army chief seized power in a coup. Photo: Reuters and published by Human Rights Watch
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