Thai PM says protesters’ call for monarchy reform ‘went too far’

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said student protesters went too far after some issued a 10-point demand to reform the monarchy, which is considered sacred in the country’s conservative culture.

Student protesters carrying anti-government banners regrouped at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok calling on Tuesday night for reforms while demanding that Prayuth resign.

The students carried placards that read: “If we burn, you burn with us.” Others held signs showing a photo of a Thai activist Siam Thirawut, who went missing in 2019.

The night before, about 3,000 to 4,000 protesters chanted “long live democracy” at Thammasat University on the outskirts of the Thai capital.

Speeches were delivered calling for the resignation of Prayuth, who first took power in a 2014 coup, and an end to military domination of politics.

But protesters from the Thammasat University Pro-Democracy Group also issued a 10-point call for royal reform, becoming at least the third student group to break a decades-long taboo on questioning the monarchy’s role and powers.