Thai Protests Are Looking More and More like Hong Kong’s Democracy Movement
Protesters in Bangkok on Oct. 18, 2020. Photo: VICE News Water cannons, encrypted messaging apps and swarms of students carrying umbrellas and wearing gas masks – this isn’t Hong Kong, it’s Bangkok. Young Thai protesters are increasingly mirroring the sophisticated tactics deployed by peers in Hong Kong as they call for democratic reforms and changes to the powerful monarchy. “This is very much a student-led movement that shares many parallels with the Hong Kong anti-government protests,” politics lecturer Roger Huang from Sydney’s Macquarie University Huang told VICE News. “The protestors are mostly students from universities and high schools, online savvy, and much more aware of social justice issues. Although there are opinion-leaders, it is a much more decentralized movement, probably the bravest generation of young activists at least since the turbulent 1970s in Thailand.” Thailand is no stranger to large-scale protests, military crackdowns and coups, but the new movement has smashed taboos and flouted legal restrictions against criticizing the monarchy, which many feel has too much of a say in Thai politics. It has also called for the prime minister to resign and demanded a new constitution. Until recently, protests were held sporadically. That changed last week after several prominent leaders were arrested and police deployed water cannons to crack down on demonstrations in the heart of the city, fuelling even further resentment and leading to now-daily rallies despite a ban on large gatherings in Bangkok. Many protesters express allegiance to the so-called Milk Tea Alliance, an informal online solidarity movement of pro-democracy activists in Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Here are just a handful of ways the Thai protests are looking more and more like what happened in Hong Kong. Umbrellas at the ready Since Friday, Bangkok has transformed into a sea of raincoats and umbrellas as tens of…