Commentary: Thailand’s old camps united in anti-government angst

After Thailand’s 2014 Coup, General Prayut Chan-ocha, the leader of the military junta that held power until 2019, made three primary pledges: To eradicate corruption, support political reforms and promote national reconciliation.

The new political divide became clearer this year when the pro-military and royalist movement began online mobilisation, creating online groups on Facebook, Google Maps and the Line group chat application to harass each other. After the 2014 coup, the duel between the two opposing groups was largely frozen. After the 2019 election, however, a new wave of political unrest returned to Thai politics.

They also added new and unprecedented demands: To curb the power and budget of the Thai monarchy. All told, however, the protests of 2020 did not topple the government.MOUNTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT SENTIMENT They demanded that a non-parliamentarian replace Prayut under Section 272 of the Constitution, which stipulates that two-thirds of members of both Houses can nominate a non-MP to serve as Prime Minister.

In the end, however, the unification of all pro-democratic groups – activist youth groups, the Red Shirts and some Yellow Shirt leaders – might prove to be transient. At the very least, neither the Red Shirt nor Yellow Shirt leaders will adopt the youth movement’s call for the reform of the monarchy.In the opposite camp, a new pro-military and pro-royalist movement is seeking to counter the anti-government protests.

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