Coup rumors swirl after a chaotic night of protest

From Thai Enquirer

Coup rumors were rife in Thailand on Monday after a chaotic night of protests that saw five demonstrators get injured by security forces during a pro-democracy rally.

Protesters gathered at Democracy Monument on Sunday and marched to the Grand Palace to deliver their petitions for reforming the royal institution. They also demanded the ouster of the Prayut Chan-ocha government and a redrafting of the military-backed charter.

The protesters were met by security officials who had parked busses and placed barbed wire to stop demonstrators from entering the royal plaza. The officials also deployed water canons against the protesters which caused several injuries.

Protesters were eventually able to hand several ‘mailboxes’ full of letters written by the people to security officials. The letters were written by the demonstrators asking HM King Vajiralongkorn to reform the royal institution and place it under the constitution.

Many ultra-royalist groups commented on Monday morning that they found the images of protest unacceptable and that the pro-democracy protesters were creating an untenable situation.

One group let by Dr Warong Dechgitvigrom made statements early on Monday about the protests noting that they were ‘unacceptable’ and that the royalist group will be rallying their supporters to confront the pro-democracy crowd and get them prosecuted by the law.

Another group led by ultra-royalist Krit Yiammethakorn has called on the army to take power and declare martial law to end the political impasse.

Senior coalition partners told Thai Enquirer on Monday that they worry that the possibility of violent confrontations between the two groups would spark a takeover of power or a judicial coup.

One Palang Pracharath MP told Thai Enquirer on condition of anonymity that a December 2 court decision, which will rule whether Prayut broke the law by staying in army housing after he retired from the armed forces, will likely go against them to “placate the masses.”

“I think the court rules against the prime minister to make all sides happy and calm the seas,” he said. “But this is the wrong decision, we have already taken steps to deescalate the situation and we are working on charter amendments as we speak.”