Students in it for the long haul

Students in it for the long haul

Anti-dictatorship student activists plan to stage their next mass protest at Thammasat University's Tha Prachan campus on Saturday Sept 19.

Why the Tha Prachan campus and not the Rangsit campus where a student protest leader unveiled their 10-point demand for the reform of the monarchy? And why Sept 19?

Both the venue and the timing are symbolic. The Tha Prachan campus was the scene of student protests, which eventually culminated in the "October 14" uprising in 1973 that toppled the Thanom-Praphas-Narong military dictatorship which ruled Thailand with an iron fist for 15 years. It was also the protest ground for students which eventually led to the "October 6" massacre in 1976 during which some students, accused of being Vietnamese communists, were lynched and hanged on the tamarind tree at Sanam Luang by a right-wing mob.

Sept 19 this year marks the 14th anniversary of the coup staged by Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, then the army commander-in-chief, to overthrow the Thaksin Shinawatra administration. Thaksin was in New York at the time attending the United Nations General Assembly.

The bloodless coup in 2006 was branded "a complete waste" by the anti-Thaksin camp for failing to clip the wings of Thaksin as manifested by the election victory of the Palang Prachachon party, the reincarnation of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party. Thaksin's hand-picked man, Samak Sundaravej became Thailand's 25th prime minister.

A few years after the coup, Gen Sonthi broke his silence, saying that he originally planned to stage the putsch on Sept 20, which coincided with the planned mass protest against Thaksin government by the People's Alliance of Democracy led by Chamlong Srimuang, but made a last-minute change to move forward the coup one day ahead.

The Thammasat University administrators have set guidelines for the Sept 19 protest to make sure that the students will follow the law and will not touch on issues related to the Monarchy in order not to repeat the incident at the Rangsit campus on Aug 10, which has drawn fierce criticism from royalists against the university administrators.

I doubt the university will be able to control the content of the issues to be addressed at the rally and the sensitive issue will not be touched upon if the crowd is huge, with outsiders joining the rally, and tempers running high.

Some protest leaders have become increasingly emboldened and outspoken in their criticism all things associated with the establishment from the educational system and social and economic disparity to the constitution and the revered institution.

Although they rarely refer to their demand for reform of the monarchy, they have rephrased the demand to refer to their "dream".

Numbers count in any protest. The bigger the crowd, the louder their voice although it is not a certainty that the big numbers can effect regime change.

The prolonged protest against the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra about six years ago by the People's Democratic Reform Committee led by Suthep Thaugsuban failed to bring down the administration even though more than a million people joined.

But the numbers can shake the government and erode its confidence, particularly at this juncture when it is mired in deep trouble, with the worst economic slump for which it is unable to figure out a remedy, compounded by a rift within the coalition parties and the resignation last week of Finance Minister Predee Daochai after only 26 days in office.

Finding a replacement for Mr Predee will not be easy, not because there is a shortage of qualified people, but because the qualified people are reluctant to join the government and fall victim to old-style gutter politics. Worse still, they can't rely on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to come to their rescue.

Mr Predee was challenged by his deputy, Santi Promphat, when the latter verbally proposed a new nominee for the post of the director-general of the Excise Department at the cabinet meeting in Rayong province.

The prime minister should have supported Mr Predee, but he didn't and just kept quiet, letting Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam intervene by withdrawing the reshuffle issue from the agenda.

The prime minister also did not confront then Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and his economic team when they tendered their resignation. Not even a word of thank you for their loyalty and long services in his government.

Not to mention the prime minister's complete failure to effect any meaningful political reform, bureaucratic reform or reform of the police and public prosecutors which are long overdue after his six years in the office.

Students protests are a new thorn in the side of the government which now looks hapless, desperate and incompetent.

If the crowd overfills the Tha Prachan campus on Sept 19, the protesters could spill on the roads with the result the protest will not just be a one-day event.

Let's wait and see how the protest transpires.

Veera Prateepchaikul is former editor, Bangkok Post.

Veera Prateepchaikul

Former Editor

Former Bangkok Post Editor, political commentator and a regular columnist at Post Publishing.

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