Thai PM threatens to use ‘all laws’ against protesters
The Thai government is ramping up a crackdown on anti-government protesters, warning that “all laws” would be used against them, amid growing calls for the resignation of the prime minister and reforms to Thailand’s powerful monarchy.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered security agencies on Thursday to intensify the suppression of protesters demanding his removal and democratic reforms to curb the powers of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Prayuth’s announcement came a day after thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital, Bangkok, and threw paint at Thai police headquarters, which they said was in response to the security forces’ use of water cannons and tear gas on Tuesday — the most violent day of anti-government demonstrations since July.
Six people were shot during the clashes that took place outside parliament between protesters and hard-line royalists. Some protesters also sprayed anti-monarchy graffiti on walls.
“The situation is not improving,” Prayuth said in a statement on Thursday. “There is a risk of escalation to more violence. If not addressed, it could damage the country and the beloved monarchy.”
“The government will intensify its actions and use all laws, all articles, to take action against protesters who broke the law,” the embattled Thai prime minister said, without providing details.
Thai activists voiced concern that the announcement could mean the resumption of prosecutions under the country’s harshest royal insult laws. Criticism of the monarchy can be punished with 15 years in jail under Thailand’s constitutional laws.
The protests, which began across Thailand in July, initially targeted Prayuth but later called for the monarch to be more transparently accountable under the constitution and for the reversal of changes that gave the current king personal control of the royal fortune and some military units.
Dozens of protesters, including many of the most prominent protest leaders, have been arrested on a variety of charges in recent months.
There were nearly 100 prosecutions for violations of the royal insult laws under the junta that Prayuth led after seizing power in a 2014 coup.
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