Royalists rally at German embassy, submit letter

Royalists rally at German embassy, submit letter

Yellow-shirts stand outside the German embassy on Sathorn Road on Monday, showing support for the monarchy. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
Yellow-shirts stand outside the German embassy on Sathorn Road on Monday, showing support for the monarchy. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

Defenders of the monarchy gathered outside the German embassy in Bangkok on Monday, ahead of a major rally by anti-government demonstrators.

People wearing yellow rallied outside the embassy on Sathorn Road. They shouted "Long live the King" and carried banners with messages supporting the monarchy. They also submitted a letter to an official from the embassy.

The letter was addressed to ambassador Georg Schmidt and signed by Nititorn Lamlua and Pichit Chaimongkol of the People of Thailand group.

It expressed concern about an effort to involve Germany in the ongoing conflict in Thailand.

"The conflict is a political struggle that stemmed from violations of laws by the group's leaders, who subsequently created situations for their political gains," the letter said.

"They combine political beliefs with numerous lies and spread them in social media through efficient information operations. The goal is to intellectually dominate students. They stir up hatred and bias against everything outside their time including using the monarchy as a tool to eliminate conventional society.

"They deploy mass psychology to incite a negative force based on emotions and infatuation, and not reasoning," the letter said.

The letter cited as evidence some conflicting demands among the group's allies. It also said that constitutional amendment, one of the group’s demands, is already in the parliamentary process, while other demands can also be dealt with under a democracy with the King as head of state.

The letter finally urged Berlin to listen and carefully consider information from all sides to prevent the escalation of the situation, that stemmed from disinformation.

Nititorn Lumlua, a lawyer who had called for people to gather at the embassy, said they hoped German authorities would get accurate information about the political situation in Thailand.

He promised the royalists would leave before the anti-government protesters arrived.

The anti-government movement has set Samyan intersection as their assembly point to begin a march to the embassy.

They intended to present the embassy with a petition asking German authorities to look into whether His Majesty the King had violated German sovereignty by exercising his power on German soil.

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