A street artist claims he has been harassed by police for graffiti featuring Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, while four activists have been arrested for their silent critique of the "Rolex General".
The man who painted a clock with Gen Prawit on its face on a pedestrian bridge on Sukhumvit Soi 58 said authorities had placed his house under surveillance and visited some of his friends at night.
The graffiti attributed to "Headache Stencil" appeared on Tuesday night but was whitewashed over on Friday morning by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration workers.
The artist posted a message on his Facebook page condemning the authorities' response to his work, intended to draw attention to Gen Prawit's large and unconvincingly explained collection of luxury watches.
“They are resorting to tactics not very worthy of police and I have the right to fear for my own safety. All I did was express my thoughts through art. It’s a universal method. I didn’t kill anyone. So what’s the point of such a hunt?” he wrote.
Around noon Saturday, he posted that he was now safe after fleeing his home late the night before. “I’ll see you soon,” he wrote.
Not so fortunate were four members of the Young People for Social-Democracy Movement (YPD) who staged a silent anti-Prawit protest on Friday evening at Victory Monument in Bangkok. They were arrested and charged with violating the public assembly law for failing to inform authorities 24 hours ahead of their gathering.
One of those arrested, Thatchapong Kaedam, told reporters his group did not inform the police because they did not think their event constituted an assembly. The National Council for Peace and Order prohibits gatherings of five or more people seen as having a political purpose.
“What we were doing was performing a mime, with not a word uttered and definitely no use of loudspeakers and there were only four of us,” he said.
Titled “It’s up to Pom”, the performance told a story of corruption and other criticisms against Gen Prawit, ranging from the mysterious death of a pre-cadent student, to his fascination with luxury watches and a lavish taxpayer-funded trip to Hawaii.
They were arrested after the play ended. They were later fined 10,000 baht each and released. Charged along with Mr Thatchapong were Thiwat Damkaew, Punjasak Boonngam and a man known only as Luck.
Mr Thiwat insisted he performed to raise awareness about accountability and checks against corruption, which are the standards citizens should be able to ask of their government.
Four members of the Young People for Social-Democracy Movement stage a silent protest at Victory Monument in Bangkok on Friday evening. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)