Why Thailand is facing its biggest pro-democracy protests in years

Demonstrators have gathered on the streets of Bangkok for the third time in less than a week to protest the rumoured postponement of Thailand’s general election by the ruling military junta.

Hundreds of people joined protests in the capital yesterday after the military government appeared to renege on assurances that the vote would finally be held on 24 February - more than three years after it was first scheduled to take place. The Guardian reports that the rally was one of the biggest pro-democracy protests in Thailand in recent years.

The row dates back to 2014, when the Royal Thai Armed Forces overthrew the interim government put in place following the controversial removal from office of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Power was then seized by the military junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which later promised to hold elections “by the end of 2015”.

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This was subsequently pushed back to “around August or in September” of 2016, before Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister who heads the military government, pledged that a general election would be held sometime in November 2018. In January 2018, the government voted to push back the vote again, agreeing on the February date.

The latest wave of anger from pro-democracy protesters was triggered by an announcement on 3 January that the elections might be postponed once more so that the government could focus on preparations for the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, taking place in May, The Straits Times reports.

Channel News Asia notes that the Thai king has yet to sign a decree that explicitly allows the Election Commission to announce an official vote date.

A campaign group known as “We Vote” said it organised the protests in Bangkok, along with marches in other cities across the country. One of the group’s leaders, Nuttaa Mahattana, said on Facebook: “The objective for today is to secure a date for the election after five postponements.”

Such demonstrations were banned until December, when the military government lifted restrictions on political gatherings ahead of the expected poll, Bloomberg reports.

Thailand’s last universally recognised election took place in 2011. Another poll was held in 2014 but was invalidated by the constitutional court shortly before the junta took power.