Thailand: 1973 Student Uprising commemoration was Disturbed by Police
Event- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Oct 14, 2015
- Event Description
Thai police officers attempted to discourage people from commemorating the 14 October 1973 Student Uprising, citing the Public Assembly Act. On Wednesday evening, 14 October 2015, at least 300 people gathered around the Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen Rd. in central Bangkok to participate in the 42th Anniversary of the 14 October 1973 Student Uprising, an event when about 50,000 students then took to the street to call for an end of the dictatorial regime of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn. Members of leading anti-junta activist groups, such as New Democracy Movement, Dao Din, and Resistant Citizens, were among the participants. Before the event started, police officers at around 6:20 pm informed the crowd as they were marching to the Democracy Monument that they might be charged under the 2015 Public Assembly Act. Throught negotiation with the pro-democracy activists, however, the police permitted the group to continue with the march, but they had to walk on pavements instead of marching on the main avenue. At 6:50 pm, as the pro-democracy crowd arrived at the Democracy Monument, they attempted to wrap a banner with the message reads "In present, how[can you] forget "the ideologies' and serve dictatorship" around the monument, but were prevented by the police. At around 7:35 pm, the crowd gathered around the monument and lit candles in honor of those who participated in the 1973 Uprising and shouted "NCPO[National Council for Peace and Order] get out" and "Democracy will triumph".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Right to political participation
- Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 15.870032
Longitude: 100.992541
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 14 October 2015, Thai police officers attempted to discourage the people who people gathered around the Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen Rd. in central Bangkok to participate in the 42th Anniversary of the 14 October 1973 Student Uprising, an event when about 50,000 students then took to the street to call for an end of the dictatorial regime of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn. Members of leading anti-junta activist groups, such as New Democracy Movement, Dao Din, and Resistant Citizens, were among the participants.