Thailand’s riverside parliament was surrounded by chaos as police repeatedly fired water cannon at pro-democracy protesters, clashes broke out between the demonstrators and royalist counterparts, and MPs abandoned the scene in boats.
Five people were treated for gunshot wounds, including at least two students, after the most violent clashes since a youth-led movement emerged in July. A total of 55 people suffered injuries in the protests, according to Bangkok’s Erawan emergency medical centre.
For months, a youth-led protest movement has held escalating demonstrations calling for democratic reforms. They have demanded the removal of the prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army general, and have breached longstanding taboos to call for an accountable and transparent monarchy. Dozens have faced legal charges for taking part in the rallies.
On Tuesday, as lawmakers considered whether to debate several proposals to amend the constitution – an issue central to protesters’ demands – thousands gathered outside the Thai parliament, which had been blocked off with razor wire and concrete.
Protesters outside parliament mocked the military-backed government by bringing giant inflatable ducks to the rally, which some joked would float down the river to an otherwise inaccessible parliament.
The ducks, nicknamed by some as their “navy force”, were instead used to shelter from blasts of water cannon, which in some instances contained chemical irritants.
Teargas was also used on pro-democracy protesters, who wore hard hats and goggles for protection. Groups of demonstrators could be seen coughing and pouring water over their faces to ease the stinging.
“Stop accusing us of violating the law, you [the police] are violating the law by hurting people,” Parit Chiwarak, a prominent student leader also known as Penguin, said through a megaphone later in the evening.
“We are fighting for a better future of our country and for everyone so don’t fire water cannon on us.”
A police spokesman said water cannon were used because protesters were attempting to break into a restricted area.
Despite a heavy police presence around parliament, skirmishes broke out between royalists, who wore yellow shirts, and pro-democracy protesters during the afternoon. Both sides threw stones and water bottles after police retreated from one of the barricades, the first major clash between royalists and the student-led movement.
Skirmishes occurred again later in the evening, when gunshots were fired. In one video, shared widely on social media and apparently filmed among yellow shirt royalists, a speaker warns the opposing side to control their crowd, and not to throw a firecracker. What sounds like several gunshots are fired. A person close to the camera, far from the front line, watches on saying “shoot them, shoot them”.
Mint Suttawan, an MP for the progressive opposition party Move Forward, told the Guardian she had visited two injured students at Rama 9 hospital. Both had been shot in the leg but were conscious, she said. They had attended the demonstration as protest guards for the pro-democracy movement – volunteers who stand on the front line to manage the crowds and ensure demonstrators’ safety.
Royalists held a counter-demonstration earlier in the day, where they urged lawmakers not to change the constitution.
“Amending the constitution is going to lead to the abolition of the monarchy,” the royalist leader, Warong Dechgitvigrom, told reporters.
Protesters have said they do not want abolition of the monarchy, but believe it should be brought under the constitution. They have also called for the removal of harsh defamation laws that protect the royal family from criticism. Anyone who “defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, heir apparent or regent” can face up to 15 years in prison.
Strict lèse majesté laws make it a crime to criticise, defame or insult members of Thailand's royal family.
In practice, this means open discussion or critical reporting about the royal family is considered illegal.
The military junta, which seized power in 2014, has been criticised for using the law – which can see people jailed for up to 15 years on each count – to stifle opposition.
In 2015, a man was jailed for 30 years over six Facebook posts and the local printer of the New York Times refused to publish an edition with a story on the king.
Surrounded by the unrest, several MPs and senators left parliament in the afternoon on boats from a pier behind the building. On Wednesday they are expected to vote on which, if any, of seven constitutional amendment bills should be debated.
The most controversial, which aims to undo the changes introduced under military rule, has been put forward by the human rights NGO iLaw. It says the 250 military-appointed senators should be replaced with elected officials, and does not, like other proposals, prevent changes to parts of the constitution that relate to the monarchy. However, despite receiving about 100,000 signatures it is unlikely to pass.
The royal palace has not responded to the protests, although the king has said of demonstrators “we love them all the same”. In recent comments, he described Thailand as the “land of compromise”.
