Activists protest against new charter drafters appointed by junta

Pro-democracy activists rallied in front of the parliament to protest against the new batch of constitutional drafters hand-picked by the junta.

At around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, 6 October 2015, political activists from New Democracy Movement (NDM), an anti-junta activist group, held a symbolic political activity to protest against the 21 new members of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) recently appointed by the junta yesterday.

The activity was also organised to commemorate the student massacre at Thammasat University on 6 October 1976. It was organised while the first meeting of the CDC was proceeding the parliament.

The group laid down 12 fake dead bodies on the street in front of the parliament to symbolise 12 coup d’états in Thai history which have killed the prospect of Thai democracy.

Sirawit Serithiwat, a well known student activist from the group who currently faces several charges for holding anti-junta political activities, said during the activity that many people have sacrificed their lives for democracy on 6 October [1976], but the new members of the CDC are about to prolong the rule of the junta to reinforce reign of dictatorship.

At least 30 police officers maintained tight control throughout entire event.  

At first the officers attempted to force the activists to abort the symbolic event, but through negotiation the NDM activists at the end were allowed to organise the activity briefly for about half an hour.

New Democracy Movement activists hold banners read "against the junta, continue to fight for the ideologies of 6 Oct 1976" (courtesy of NDM facebook)

Since 2007, Prachatai English has been covering underreported issues in Thailand, especially about democratization and human rights, despite the risk and pressure from the law and the authorities. However, with only 2 full-time reporters and increasing annual operating costs, keeping our work going is a challenge. Your support will ensure we stay a professional media source and be able to expand our team to meet the challenges and deliver timely and in-depth reporting.

• Simple steps to support Prachatai English

1. Bank transfer to account “โครงการหนังสือพิมพ์อินเทอร์เน็ต ประชาไท” or “Prachatai Online Newspaper” 091-0-21689-4, Krungthai Bank

2. Or, Transfer money via Paypal, to e-mail address: [email protected], please leave a comment on the transaction as “For Prachatai English”