Thai Prime Minister Payuth Chan-o-cha throws coronavirus card at Bangkok protesters
Thai PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha has warned a Saturday rally by youth protesters could spark a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has warned a planned Saturday rally by youth protesters demanding reform of the monarchy and military-drafted constitution will delay economic recovery in the tourist-reliant country and potentially spark a fresh wave of COVID-19 cases.
“When you gather in crowds you are creating an enormous risk of new infections. And with that you also create enormous risk to the livelihoods of tens of millions of fellow Thais,” the former junta leader said on Thursday.
“Any major flare-up of infections will lead to terrible consequences and even worse economic destruction, the likes of which we have never seen. Please think about this.”
Mr Prayuth said he had asked police to be “tolerant” of protesters — mostly university and high school students who have staged rallies across the country demanding a return to democracy, but also made clear they would be blamed for any fresh virus outbreak.
Thailand has paid a heavy price for its success in containing the coronavirus pandemic, with GDP down 12.2 per cent, year on year, in the second quarter — the country’s biggest economic contraction since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
But critics say Mr Prayuth must shoulder some of the blame for the scale of Thailand’s economic woes for his failure since 2014 to help diversify the heavily tourism and export-dependent economy.
Thai political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, writing in the Nikkei Asian Review on Friday, said “Prayuth’s military-backed regime, both before and after the March 2019 poll, has led Thailand into a cul-de-sac of long-term economic stagnation and political repression.”
Organisers of Saturday’s rally hope to attract up to 50,000 people to central Bangkok, which would make it the largest of all the student protests so far.
The peaceful events have drawn up to 10,000 people, who have used pop culture references — dressing up as Harry Potter characters or flashing the salute from The Hunger Games — to convey their message.
The protesters have broken a taboo in Thailand by demanding not only the restoration of democracy, fresh elections and a new constitution but also reform of the monarchy, which they say should be accountable to the people.
Dr Pongsudhirak says the “status quo is now untenable” and the students’ demands amount to an “overdue reckoning and reconciliation for Thailand under the reign of the new king”.
“If they are to succeed, the youth movement will need to broaden its appeal to other segments of society including older demographics, and press for concessions and reforms of traditional institutions rather than upending them.”
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