The activist group Thalufah have held a protest against the government’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for the third consecutive day, despite previous protests being forcibly dispersed by crowd control police.

The group gathered on 18 August at the Democracy Monument, where they brought effigies representing those who died from Covid-19 and the government’s failure to manage the pandemic. The effigies were piled up in front of the Monument, as well as hung from the model of the palm-leaf manuscript representing the Constitution.

At 18.00, after a series of speeches, protesters held up the three-finger ‘Hunger Games’ salute while the National Anthem played, followed by a minute of silence in memory of those who died from Covid-19.

This was then followed by an open mic session where protesters are invited to speak and express their discontent about the government.

At 19.20, the protesters burned effigies of the cabinet as a symbolic act of protest against the failures of the Prayut administration, and then danced around the bonfire. The protest concluded at around 19.30.

Following the conclusion of the protest, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that activist Thanadet Srisongkhram, a leader of the vocational school student network Gear of Democracy: Vocational Protection of the People for Democracy, was arrested and detained at the Nang Loeng intersection after he spoke at the protest calling for vocational school students joining protests not to use violence.

TLHR said it is likely that Thanadet was arrested on charges relating to violation of the Emergency Decree, but it is unclear about the incident for which he was charged.