Vocational student leaders deny link with Din Daeng clashes

Vocational student leaders deny link with Din Daeng clashes

Protesters gather at Democracy Monument on Wednesday calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. (Photo: Pattarapong​ chatpattarasill​)
Protesters gather at Democracy Monument on Wednesday calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. (Photo: Pattarapong​ chatpattarasill​)

Vocational student leaders on Wednesday denied they were behind clashes in Bangkok's Din Daeng area and called on protesters to end violent tactics.

They made clear their position against violence, saying clashes with police could derail the peaceful campaign to put pressure on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign.

They also dismissed the idea that they were engineering clashes with police in Din Daeng.

Vocational student leaders spoke publicly about the issue for the first time in order to clarify their stance and end rumours that they were connected to the violence.

Kewalang Thanyacharoen, a vocational student leader and a chief guard for anti-government groups, said the protesters in Din Daeng were mainly those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak or those suffering losses from the pandemic.

"Violence will never beat the government," he said during a rally at Democracy Monument organised by the Tha Lu Fah group. It could draw soldiers out from the barracks, he warned.

"Din Daeng intersection should not be known in history as a place of conflict and a place where lives were lost," he said. "Let the violence end."

"The history we are trying to make is to see Prayut out of power," he went on.

Across the capital in Din Daeng, however, another group of protesters clashed with riot police once again.

Tear gas fired by police was countered by firecrackers from protesters, most of them on motorcycles.

The standoff continued as the protesters tried to break through a row of shipping containers blocking the road to the residence of the prime minister.

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