Their photos and names are not only held on civilian, police and military intelligence files. The armed forces have now spread warnings about them to non-military staff and family members situated in and around Bangkok barracks.
They are labelled by the men in uniform as subversives and a threat to Thai society.
They are not gangsters or high-profile criminals; they simply call themselves Resistant Citizens.
What are their nefarious actions that have the military so on edge? They simply walk. Sometimes one person, sometimes in a group of four. After being arrested or blocked by authorities, they continue to march for justice.
Whenever one or all four of them shows up at the Military Court near the City Pillars, Sanam Luang, the premises are sealed with tight security.
At least seven or eight plain-clothes police and military officers wait for them and ask them nicely what they are going to do next. One of the officers once bluntly asked a Resistant Citizen to “kindly organise any activities out of my perimeter, please”.
The four are Punsak Srithep, a 48-year-old, bearded, grey-haired, sunglasses wearing man with one pierced ear, in baggy trousers and carrying a traditional cloth bag called a yarm; Wannakiat Choosuwan, an almost bald 36-year-old taxi driver clad in a faded sky blue polo shirt; Arnon Nampa, the well-known bespectacled 30-year-old human rights lawyer; and Sirawith Seritiwat, aka Ja (Sergeant) New, a plump 23-year-old fourth year Thammasat University student who has helped to rally his peers to the cause of democracy.
The members of the Resistant Citizen group come from different backgrounds and have different grievances, but they work together to organise ad hoc activities in their quest for justice. They are also part of a wave of activists defying what they consider undemocratic elements, in any form, in recent years.
As noisy whistle-blowers of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee shut down Bangkok for six months, citizens from all walks of life held anti-violence activities, mostly under the banner of Yabasta (Enough Is Enough). They folded paper birds for peace, wore white shirts during a silent rally and lit candles in Bangkok parks, university campuses and at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.
Before that, Sombat Boonngamanong, leader of the independent Red Sunday group, had rallied red shirt supporters through social media to protest against the Pheu Thai-sponsored blanket amnesty bill at Ratchaprasong intersection.
The creative Mr Sombat expedited flash mobs and used Facebook to mobilise people in the days after the May 22 coup, showing defiance of military rule and daring the junta to “catch me if you can”. A week later, the military sealed several malls in Bangkok, banned the three-finger gesture from the dystopian Hunger Games films and rounded up a number of people who followed Mr Sombat’s call.
The military did catch Mr Sombat, arresting him on June 5, after which Mr Arnon posted on Facebook that citizens should continue to carry out imaginative and non-violent acts of defiance.
With bans against gatherings of five people or more, anti-coup activists numbering between one and four held activities such as wearing Guy Fawkes masks, reading Nineteen Eighty-Four at Siam Paragon and BTS bridges and eating sandwiches.
No sooner were these dissent gestures doused than Khon Kaen University law students and members of the Dao Din (Stars of the Earth) movement interrupted Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s first post-coup tour of Isan with three-fingered salutes.
The anti-coup protests made ripples again in late November as the film Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 was screening in Thailand.
Calm amid the storm: Sombat Boonngamanong gestures as he arrives at a military court in Bangkok. The activist is facing up to 14 years in prison.
Three-fingered: A demonstrator is arrested and taken away by police officers in a tuk-tuk after making a speech during an anti-coup rally.
Defiant: Students and members of the Dao Din group interrupted Prayut Chan-o-cha’s first post-coup tour of Isan with ‘Hunger Games’ salutes.
The four men who make up the Resistant Citizens group have played some part in all of those activities.
“It began with the call to protest martial law on May 20,” Mr Punsak explained. “I arrived at the BACC quite late as the heavy-hearted protesters filled up the skywalk, but the sense of responsibility surged. Initially I was just meant to go there, drop leaflets and leave — but I addressed the crowd to calm them down before they all gradually dispersed.”
That night, his friend Thanapol Eiwsakul, the editor of Fah Diew Gan magazine, was arrested along with other anti-martial law activists. Mr Punsak searched for Thanapol and eventually met him at a military camp. When the junta announced the coup, Mr Punsak and Mr Arnon had to hibernate.
As the father of 17-year-old Samapun, killed on Ratchaprarop Road on May 15, 2010, Mr Punsak is close to Payao Akkahad, the mother of the volunteer nurse killed on May 19, 2010, at Wat Pathumwanaram at the height of the army crackdown on protesters.
Mr Punsak and Ms Payao could not sit idly by as the military involved in the deaths of their children took charge of the country. Three months after the coup, Mr Punsak threw leaflets denouncing the coup from the Mor Chit BTS station while Ms Payao was talking to reporters and the police. He was arrested.
“I happened to be an accidental hero as I realised friends feel safe if I join or lead the anti-coup activities,” Mr Punsak said. “My wife also sees this point.”
Mr Punsak, who holds a degree in physical education specialising in creative recreation, used to work as part of the corporate image building staff at the Charoen Pokephan conglomerate. He quit CP after a decade in 2004 and joined Action Aid and FTA Watch.
His activism dates back to the Thaksin Shinawatra government, when he produced gimmicks against the Free Trade Agreement with the US, including a small, foldable leaflet with Thaksin and George W Bush pictured as buddies. He continued with attention-grabbing tactics at the anti-WTO protests in Hong Kong in 2005.
As Mr Punsak was busy organising youth activities such as End Poverty Now, short films and a concert for the poor at Centre Point, his son Samapun absorbed and embraced his activism.
“Yes, because our son died [I am anti-military], but other friends have suffered human rights abuses too,” he said. “My wife was quite emotional when [lese majeste convicts] Golf and Bank were jailed due to the fictional play Wolf’s Bride.”
Disappointed by the retreat of several scholars from the Assembly for the Defence of Democracy, which campaigned for equal rights for all citizens, due to military summonses, Mr Punsak and his friends are determined to “reclaim civic space and test the water” so citizens feel they still can do something.
Mr Wannakiat was amused by some people’s notion that his group was hired by former premier Thaksin. “We have been talking about basic human rights of free expression and assembly for decades,” he said.
Mr Arnon's political engagement increased after the 2006 coup. However, he said his legal work has long had a human rights focus; he has defended villagers who fought for their community and environmental rights, such as those against a coal mine in Prachuap Khiri Khan and a coal-fired power plant in Saraburi. He has also helped human rights defenders such as Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who faced a suit under the Computer Crime Act, Jittra Kochadet on a charge of defying a National Council for Peace and Order summons, and Mr Sombat’s sedition case.
Of the more than 20 contentious cases he has been involved in, perhaps the most emotional was that of lese majeste convict Ampon Tangnoppakul, aka Uncle SMS, who died in prison of heart failure after battling cancer. At the time of his death, Mr Arnon was pursuing a royal pardon for him.
“We intend to defend the turf so as to divert people from resorting to violence,” said Mr Arnon, a Roi Et native.
“We want to allay fears and soften the tension after the coup so people can express themselves in a peaceful manner.”
Activities including mini street concerts, poetry readings and a larb picnic during the New Year's Eve countdown at Democracy Monument have been held to give citizens what Mr Arnon called a “common platform”.
“If PM Prayut Chan-o-cha claims that there are no problems with junta rule and martial law or Section 44, then measure that by holding a referendum on the new constitution,” Mr Arnon said.
The four Resistant Citizens are due to appear before the Military Court again on April 22 for further examination by the military prosecutor.
They are facing charges of violating NCPO orders banning assembly and political activities for holding the “Election, My Dear” event on Feb 14. They used fake ballot boxes to mark last year's Feb 2 poll that was annulled because of PDRC blockades.
The Resistant Citizens’ campaign to be tried in a civilian court has tapped into the support of Mr Sirawith's peers, while the UN and international organisations have joined the calls against the trial being held in a military court.
Others have taken their cue from the small civic group. Intellectuals including Nidhi Eowsriwongs and Charnvit Kasetsiri joined activists yesterday in a Songkran activity in which they apologised to the younger generation.
In the apology, they said that young people should not have to suffer political havoc, arguing that elderly members of Thai society should have taken better care of democracy.
Mr Sirawith said it was time for Thailand to walk away from the trap where one sector of society was not willing to let democracy reign.
“We hope they will have more tolerance to allow differences,” the Thammasat University student said, adding that the waves of resistant citizens would not stop with them. n