sanam luang

  • Thailand NewsTantrum in the sun: Foreigners’ sunbathing sparks debate at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok

    Tantrum in the sun: Foreigners’ sunbathing sparks debate at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok

    A debate erupted over two foreigners sunbathing at Sanam Luang, a leisure park in front of Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. Numerous netizens expressed disapproval of the act, while some argued that the foreigners might be behaving based on cultural differences. Additionally, there were calls for the park to be opened to the public. Facebook user Kamron Patprayoon shared a…

  • Bangkok NewsOfficials debate Bangkok’s Sanam Luang public park

    Officials debate Bangkok’s Sanam Luang public park

    Thai officials are debating how much access the public should have to Sanam Luang, the historic public square in front of Bangkok’s Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha. After a governor candidate running under the Move Forward Party advocated removing fences around Sanam Luang, another official has defended keeping them and restricting access to the ‘public’ park. The…

  • EventsThammasat University Massacre – 45 year on | VIDEO

    Thammasat University Massacre – 45 year on | VIDEO

    Yesterday marked the 45th anniversary of the infamous October 6 massacre at Thammasat University in Bangkok in 1976, when 4,000 police and military forces blocked all exits from the university before firing machine guns, assault rifles, grenade launchers, and other military-grade weapons on the students after increased anti-government protests. Officially, some 45 people were killed and over 145 injured, but…

  • Thailand Protest News33 people injured and 5 arrested in last night’s protests near the Grand Palace in Bangkok

    33 people injured and 5 arrested in last night’s protests near the Grand Palace in Bangkok

    33 people, including protesters and attending police, ended up casualties of last evening’s anti-government protests according to Erawan Medical Centre. The protest, reacting to the seizure of books discussing the Thai Monarchy and including pro-democracy speeches from last year, started off in Sanam Luang during the afternoon. But it quickly escalated after police erected a wall of shipping containers preventing…

  • Thailand Protest NewsUniversity alumni and students gather to commemorate the Thammasat University Massacre – VIDEO

    University alumni and students gather to commemorate the Thammasat University Massacre – VIDEO

    A small gathering was held yesterday on the grounds of Bangkok’s Thammasat University Tha Prachan Campus commemorating the 44th anniversary of the ‘Thammasat University Massacre’, the violent crackdown on students by right-wing militia and army in the morning of October 6, 1976. Former student leaders, university alumni and opposition politicians came to pay their respects for the fallen and voice…

  • EventsRemembering the Thammasat University Massacre – October 6, 1976

    Remembering the Thammasat University Massacre – October 6, 1976

    The actual events that preceded the incident started a few weeks before when the tortured corpses of 2 electricity workers were found hanging on September 24, 1976, just north of Bangkok. You also need to put the incident into the context of the mid-1970s and the events swirling around South East Asia. Next door the Americans had just lost the…

  • Events44 years on – the 1976 Thammasat University Massacre

    44 years on – the 1976 Thammasat University Massacre

    An exhibition has been assembled to commemorate the 44th anniversary of the Thammasat University Massacre that occurred on October 6, 1976. The ‘pop up’ museum has been assembled at the University’s Tha Prachan campus, right next to the front gate of the University, and only metres away from where the events of that fateful day occurred. The exhibition attempts to…

  • Thailand Protest NewsProtest leaders face charges for violating Thailand’s lèse majesté law and for installing the plaque

    Protest leaders face charges for violating Thailand’s lèse majesté law and for installing the plaque

    Leaders of the weekend’s pro-democracy protest in Bangkok are facing charges for violating Thailand’s lèse majesté laws and installing a symbolic plaque at a “registered historical site”. Police filed complaints against 10 to possibly more than 16 protesters. It’s unclear how many protesters will be charged, but the Royal Thai Police spokesperson Piya Uthayo says charges will be pressed against…

  • Thailand Protest News5 protesters to be charged over a rally in front of the Thai Army’s headquarters

    5 protesters to be charged over a rally in front of the Thai Army’s headquarters

    With impeccable timing, Nang Loeng police have summoned 5 protest leaders to appear before the Special Prosecutor’s Office at the Dusit District Court in Bangkok. They will be formally charged over their roles in a protest in front of the Army’s headquarters on July 20. At the time it followed an online exchange from an Army official criticising the students…

  • Thailand NewsProtesters’ plaque damaged historical site – Thai Fine Arts Department

    Protesters’ plaque damaged historical site – Thai Fine Arts Department

    The Thai Fine Arts Department claim the pro-democracy protesters, who installed a symbolic brass plaque in an area next to the Grand Palace yesterday morning, broke the law. The department filed a complaint saying the installation of the plaque damaged a historic site, a violation of the Archaeological Site Act. Protesters cemented the plaque in the perimeter of the Royal Field,…

  • Thailand Protest NewsProtesters’ symbolic brass plaque ripped out of the concrete this morning

    Protesters’ symbolic brass plaque ripped out of the concrete this morning

    Now you see it. Now you don’t. Although the replacement commemorative brass plaque was certain to be removed, even the protesters thought it might have stayed in place a bit longer than 24 hours. All that remains this morning is a space where the plaque had been laid yesterday morning – the concrete sealing it in place had barely dried.…

  • Thailand Protest NewsThai police seize 45,000 books and arrest students who were about to distribute them

    Thai police seize 45,000 books and arrest students who were about to distribute them

    Police were holding a group of Thammasat University students after seizing around 45,000 booklets about reform of the Thai Monarchy and politics, which were about to be distributed to demonstrators at Sanam Luang last night. The red-covered book, entitled “Stunning Phenomenon – August 10”, is a compendium of articles about the Thai Monarchy, written by human rights lawyer Anond Nampa,…

  • Thailand NewsAnti-government rally a victory for progressive Thais

    Anti-government rally a victory for progressive Thais

    An important figure in Thailand’s Progressive Movement says the anti-government rally this weekend is a victory for Thais pushing for democracy in the Kingdom. Yesterday’s rally, the largest yet in the anti-government demonstrations that started in July, attracted up to 30,000 people although Thai security officials put the number around 18,000. Either figure makes the protest the biggest so far…

  • Bangkok NewsAnti-government protest rally attracts massive crowd, continues today

    Anti-government protest rally attracts massive crowd, continues today

    And there it was, in full sight of the Grand Palace and shouted out across the royal parade grounds of Sanam Luang, a call to reform Thailand’s monarchy and the powers of the monarch. The protests, which started yesterday in the grounds of Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan Campus, will continue today with a number of symbolic gestures to claim a…

  • UniversitiesProtesters flood Thammasat University for major anti-government rally

    Protesters flood Thammasat University for major anti-government rally

    Today, Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus in Bangkok is seeing thousands of protesters flood its campus in what they say is the biggest rally yet against the Prayut-led Thai government. After unsuccessfully trying to gain permission from university officials, the protesters broke through the gates of the history-laden university and are now gathering for the schedule of anti-government speeches. Earlier…

  • Thailand NewsRally to go ahead whilst Thammasat lock their gates to keep the protesters out

    Rally to go ahead whilst Thammasat lock their gates to keep the protesters out

    Heading into today’s protest at Thammasat University in Bangkok, a spokesperson for the organisers says the thorny issue of the reform of the Thai monarchy will be on the agenda. A 10 point manifesto was prepared and originally announced as part of an August 10 rally, not a large rally at the time but memorable for the public utterance of issues…