Protesters install 'new plaque' at Sanam Luang

Pro-democracy protesters on Sunday morning staged a ceremony to install a new plaque at Sanam Luang to declare the people’s power.

The first and original plaque that marked the 1932 Revolution that overthrew the absolute monarchy was planted on the ground of the Royal Plaza. It was removed without explanation in 2017, and no one in authority will say what happened to it.

Lawyer Arnon Nampa, one of the protest leaders, had vowed late Saturday night that a plaque for a “new People’s Party” would be unveiled on Sunday morning.

 

Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, a leader of the United Front for Thammasat and Demonstration, took the stage at Sanam Luang early in the morning to wake up the demonstrators who had stayed overnight to take part in the ceremony.



Before placing the new plaque, Mr Parit led the protesters to pray for the souls of all of those who sacrificed their lives for democracy. He said the souls of all members of the Khana Ratsadon or group of people who took part in the 1932 Revolution were immortal and they would “protect all of us here.”

The protesters then raised their hands to deliver a three-finger salute, the symbol of the movement, for six seconds.

The demonstrators chose 6.39am as an “auspicious time” to install the new plaque on the ground of Sanam Luang. After a brief ceremony, it was embedded in the concrete.

Protest leaders subsequently presented a petition for reform of the monarchy to the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

Around 9am, Mr Parit declared the rally over, but said demonstrators would gather again outside Parliament on Thursday, the second day of a two-day debate on amending the constitution.

Vocabulary

  • absolute monarchy: a system in which a king or queen has unlimited powers - ระบอบสมบูรณาญาสิทธิราช
  • auspicious: showing signs that suggest that something is likely to be successful - โอกาสอันดี เป็นมงคลฤกษ์
  • democracy (noun): a system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives - การปกครองแบบประชาธิปไตย
  • embedded (verb): fixed firmly into a substance or solid object - ฝังลงไป, ถูกฝัง
  • explanation (noun): a description of how something happened or happens; giving the reasons why it happened - การอธิบาย, การชี้แจง, การขยายความ, คำอธิบาย
  • overthrew: forcing a leader or government out of power - ขับไล่ออกจากอำนาจ
  • plaque: a flat piece of metal, stone, wood or plastic with writing on it which is fixed to a wall, door or other object - แผ่นจารึกตัวหนังสือหรือภาพ
  • revolution: a situation when people completely change their political system or government, often by force - การปฏิรูป
  • sacrifice: to give up important or valuable things, so that you or other people can have or do something else - เสียสละเพื่อส่วนรวม
  • soul: the spiritual part of a person or thing - วิญญาณ
  • unveil: to remove a cover or curtain from a painting, statue, etc. so that it can be seen in public for the first time - เอาผ้าคลุมออก

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