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Photos: Thai ‘Hunger-Game’ student protests spread despite crackdown
Students from more than a dozen high schools, on August 18, raised a three finger "Hunger-games” inspired salute and sported white ribbons as a sign of their anti-government stance. Singing the national anthem along with gestures expressed students’ discontentment with the government under military rule as they called for constitutional amendments. Activists who led the protests in Bangkok along with a key member of a 'Rap Against Dictatorship' band, were slapped with sedition charges and issued warrants by the court for frank criticism of the monarchy and calling for overthrowing of the government.
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Updated on Aug 20, 2020 03:46 pm IST
A pro-democracy student with a tape covering her mouth raises three-fingers, a symbol of resistance salute, during a protest rally at Mahidol University in Thailand on August 18. The three-finger salute has been a symbol of calls for democracy since Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first took power in a 2014 coup, Reuters reported. (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)
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Pro-democracy students wearing white ribbons, raise a three-finger symbol of resistance salute during a protest rally in front of Education Ministry in Bangkok on August 19. Some students also wore white ribbons to show their support for protesters, who seek Chan-ocha’s departure, a new constitution and an end to the harassment of activists. According to Reuters, some students have also called for reforms to the monarchy, once a taboo subject. (Sakchai Lalit / AP)
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Pro-democracy protesters stand in front of police during a protest in Bangkok on August 16. The anti-government protest in Thailand drew at least 10,000 people on August 16, police told AFP. The largest political demonstration the kingdom has seen in years as a pro-democracy movement gathers steam, wrote AFP. (Sakchai Lalit / AP)
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High school students demonstrate at Samsen Wittayalai School in Bangkok on August 18. Apart from political demands, some pupils complain of a school system which emphasizes obedience and tradition, from lining up daily for the national anthem to strict rules on uniforms, haircuts and behaviour. A system with “highly authoritarian elements,” Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist at Thammasat University told Reuters. (Sakchai Lalit / AP)
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Anti-government protesters at a rally by the Democracy Monument in Bangkok on August 16. Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan said in a public address for the protesters, “I’m happy that they dare to speak out and that they are interested in politics at this age, as long as their ideas are beneficial to the country.” (Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP)
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Key member of ‘Rap Against Dictatorship,’ Dechathorn Bamrungmuang, arrives in police custody at Samranrat police station in Bangkok on August 20. The Thai police arrested him and four pro-democracy activists in a crackdown on growing protests, accusing them of sedition for calling on Prime Minister Prayuth and his administration to resign. (Sakchai Lalit / AP)
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A pro-democracy activist sits in protest in front of policemen at the Samranrat police station in Bangkok on August 20. A Thai court issued arrest warrants for six more pro-democracy activists on August 19 for their involvement in recent rallies. So far, none of them have been charged with royal defamation, but their demands have angered pro-royalist supporters and spurred several smaller counterprotests, AFP reported. (Sakchai Lalit / AP)
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Updated on Aug 20, 2020 03:46 pm IST