Politics

University students defy ban, hold protest

Published

Thursday, July 23, 2020 17:04

PHOTO: mgronline.com

With anti-government demonstrations flaring up around the country, a bid by the dean of the Mahasarakham University to prevent one there failed yesterday as students defied his ban and went ahead with their protest.

University campuses are exempt from the Emergency Decree’s ban on gatherings, and the university initially said only that any rallies held on campus grounds must abide by the law and refrain from anti-monarchy rhetoric. The dean later warned that the rally risked spreading Covid-19 and told the students to cancel the protest.

Protest organisers insisted they would continue, and joked that the theme of the rally had been changed to “anti-dean and anti-government”.

Political protests have broken out around the country following the July 18 rally at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument by the Union of Students of Thailand and a group called Free Youth. The group wants Parliament to be dissolved, the Constitution to be rewritten to be more democratic, and the government to stop official and unofficial harassment of opponents.

A prominent ‘red shirt’ leader today also weighed into the ground swell of youth protests around the country urging them not to bring the Thai monarchy into the issues they were addressing, claiming it would “not end well” if they did.

University students defy ban, hold protest | News by Thaiger

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

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5 Comments

ROBERT KEHNE

Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 6:08 pm

Interesting that in the background of a “democracy protest” is a flag of Che Guevara, one of the most brutal Communist murderers of our time. Doesn’t look very democratic.

Reply
Toby Andrews

Friday, July 24, 2020 at 10:35 am

However Che Guevara did help remove the dictator of Cuba, Batista, who it is estimated killed 20000 Cubans. Sometimes it is necessary to fight fire with fire.
This Dean should stick to teaching and not order students in political matters.
He hardly qualifies to comment. I’m sure his salary is secure and generous, and he is not homeless living in an abandoned bar in Pattaya.

Reply
- Tony
  
  Friday, July 24, 2020 at 6:49 pm
  
  The 20k deaths is just Castro’s propaganda, it was much, much lower, you can check by yourself on the net. That doesn’t make Batista a “good guy”, but Guevara was indeed a murderer and not a democracy fighter. He helped to turn Cuba in the worst country to live in the Western hemisphere, besides Venezuela now, with the help of Chavez and Maduro
  
  Reply
Andrew Roberts

Friday, July 24, 2020 at 12:26 pm

Their message probably isn’t going to resonate with Thai authorities if signs are written in English rather than Thai. It’ll likely be perceived as them mimicking the US protests and glorifying western government.

Reply
Tony G

Friday, July 24, 2020 at 7:00 pm

The 20k deaths is just Castro’s propaganda, it was much, much lower, you can check by yourself on the net. That doesn’t make Batista a “good guy”, but Guevara was indeed a murderer and not a democracy fighter. He helped to turn Cuba into the worst country to live in the Western hemisphere, besides Venezuela now, with the help of Chavez and Maduro

Reply

Jack Burton

Jack Burton is an American writer, broadcaster, linguist and journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. A native of the state of Georgia, he attended the The University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism, which hands out journalism's prestigious Peabody Awards. His works have appeared in The China Post, The South China Morning Post, The International Herald Tribune and many magazines throughout Asia and the world. He is fluent in Mandarin and has appeared on television and radio for decades in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

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