No pro-election message on May Day, say authorities

Soldiers and police officers have barred workers holding May Day activities in Pathum Thani from expressing any message urging the junta to hold general elections.
On 1 May 2018, the authorities ordered workers in Rangsit District of Pathum Thani Province, to remove all messages related to elections from their May Day rally. According to Sriprai Nonsee, one of the rally organisers, the police and soldiers on 30 April summoned them to answer questions about their activities.
The authorities asked to know the names of the organisers and ordered the rally not to mention the general election, even though it was one of the workers’ main proposals, said Sriprai. They also threatened to prosecute the organisers if they refused to obey.
On May Day morning, the workers gathered to march to Pathum Thani Provincial Hall to submit their proposals to the Governor. The proposals include: 1) a welfare state; 2) fair pay; 3) rights to form a union and fair negotiation; 4) safety in the workplace; 5) democracy; and 6) elections this year.
Workers submit the petition to the Pathum Thani City Hall
Many workers failed to join the march as the police ordered the organisers to begin earlier than planned. The authorities also asked them to remove all signs and banners related to the elections. Upon arriving at the Provincial Hall, undercover police officers told marchers to remove headbands with the message “election this year,” and warned them not to use loudspeakers.
Sriprai told Prachatai that the workers included democracy and elections in the main issues of this year’s May Day rally because the military government has not only failed to improve workers’ wellbeing but also significantly suppressed workers’ rights and freedom of expression.
“At first, the military told us to be patient and wait for one year, or two years at most, but now it’s been almost four years, and it will certainly be over four years,” Sriprai stated, adding that employers are likely to be more exploitative under the junta than under a civilian government because workers’ freedom is limited.
The “election this year” headbands

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