Thai netizens say pro-government royalists carried out Wednesday’s protest shootings

ThaigerPublished: 14:02, 29 November 2020| Updated: 14:02, 29 November 2020

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Thai netizens say pro-government royalists carried out Wednesday’s protest shootings

Thailand’s netizens are refuting police’s claims that pro-democracy protesters carried out Wednesday’s rally shootings. The shootings occurred at the rally site near Bangkok’s Siam Commerical Bank head office, where the rally site was originally planned but was then moved after protesters tried to avoid a clash with pro-government royalists. However, shots were fired, with police arresting a suspect on charges of attempted murder, shooting in public without reason, and carrying a firearm in public.

The netizens found footage of the scene, in which they say they identified the faces of the offenders. The revelation came after Deputy Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Piya Tawichai blamed Ratsadon guards for the shootings and injuries.

Further muddying the investigation, the shooters allegedly claimed they supported the pro-democracy movement, prompting netizens to scour videos that were taken of the rally. In light of the video evidence, Thairath TV has apologised for “blindly accepting” the police statement by accusing the pro-democracy protesters of causing the violence. PM Prayut has also ordered an investigation into the shooting, citing that the government may be blamed for the attack after authorities were reportedly only supposed to maintain peace in the rally, a job that clearly failed.

Meanwhile, the pro-democracy leaders have been called into question by donors to the movement, as they have criticised how the leaders have used the donations, when a guard was shot and injured. Netizens took to social media to ask what “fairy godmother” Inthira “Sine” Charoenpura and Pakorn “Hia Bung” Pornchewangkurn were buying with the donation money with some online comments mentioning the display of yellow ducks and props as a poor use of donation funds. Some criticisers pointed towards using the donations to buy protective gear for protesters after the shootings occurred, prompting the 2 leaders to issue a statement that they would now use such funds for the injured guards.