For the past 100 weeks, activists in Chiang Mai have been staging a protest every Saturday to demand the release political prisoners. They now vow to keep going until all political prisoners are freed and the judicial system is reformed.
The weekly protest takes place between 17.00 – 18.12 on Saturday at Tha Phae gate, a popular tourist landmark in Chiang Mai’s old town. Protesters stand along the foothpath for 1 hour and 12 minutes with signs calling for the release of political prisoners and the repeal of the royal defamation law. By last Saturday (10 August), the group has staged their protest for 100 weeks consecutively.
Pakawadee Weerapaspong, a writer, activist and translator, said that the protest began in 2021, when the activists staged a protest every day for a consecutive 47 days. They returned after a short break and staged a protest every day for 100 days. They are now in the third wave of protests.
“Right now, I can’t figure out how long we’ll have to keep standing, only that we don’t want to our friends in prison to think that they are forgotten. We want to show moral support for them,” Pakawadee said. “At the same time, we still want to communicate to outside society that they should not forget political prisoners in our country. At least, our showing up and communicating directly should be beneficial for the awareness among ordinary people about the problems happening in our country.”
When asked about the dissolution of the Move Forward Party (MFP), Pakawadee said that the royal defamation law has become a real problem. The law has been so broadly interpreted that it is no longer clear where its boundaries are, while its enforcement is problematic when it comes to charging people and for political parties campaigning about the law. She said that it was ridiculous that the proposal to amend a single piece of legislation is interpreted as treason, noting that the royal defamation law has been amended in the past.
Pakawadee said that the broad interpretation of the royal defamation law and the dissolution of the MFP could mean that discussion relating to the country’s main institutions becomes more difficult and that MPs may not dare even to bail out those charged under this law. She said that it now seems like an amendment is not enough and the royal defamation law should be completely repealed because it is becoming too much of a problem.