THAI COPS SEEK PROTESTERS WHO DEMANDED CHANGE TO MONARCHY

Thai authorities have issued arrest warrants for six activists who took part in a demonstration at which students issued a 10-point call for reform of the monarchy last week, police said on Wednesday as students called more protests, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat wrote for Reuters on August 19, 2020. 

The charges against the six were not over the demands made at the protest by thousands of people at Thammasat University on Aug. 10, but for breaching internal security and measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus as well as computer crimes. Student-led protests have taken place almost daily for more than a month to demand the departure of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former junta leader, a new constitution and an end to the harassment of activists. 

The six include Panusaya Sithijirawattankul, 21, the student who read out a manifesto demanding reform of the monarchy. They also include Anon Nampa, who made the first public call for royal reform and has also been charged over earlier protests. 

“They can hand themselves in today or whenever but shouldn’t bring a crowd,” Police Lieutenant General Amphol Buarabporn told Reuters. “If they don’t hand themselves in, we can arrest them when they’re spotted.”