BANGKOK – As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting gets under way on Friday, anti-government protesters in Bangkok and across Thailand are gearing up to make their voices heard, some through novel and creative means.
Besides dressing up as characters from the Avatar movie and plastering Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s face on tuk tuks around Bangkok, activists have even jumped into park ponds to get their messages across.
Several youth-led demonstrators claim that leaders are “greenwashing” environmental resolutions made at various Apec meetings, and are demanding strong action against climate change.
Since early this week, there has been a heavy police presence in and around the summit location in Bangkok, as well as at hotels where world leaders are staying, but that has not deterred a handful of activists from hitting the streets.
On Thursday, about 100 protesters gathered around noon at the fringe of security barricades in Asoke, in central Bangkok, dressed in dinosaur suits and banners, to denounce the conference, claiming that only big companies, not citizens, benefit from Thailand’s push for the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model.
The BCG model is being touted by local leaders as an inclusive and sustainable way towards economic growth, and Thailand hopes to secure a commitment document from the 21 Apec member economies during the summit as part of its legacy.
Among the other demands from activists are the renewed youth-led demands for Section 112, Thailand’s lese majeste law, to be abolished, and for political prisoners locked up under this law to be released.
“The government is ignoring our pleas and political rights… These are the people you are going to be in alliance with,” said one protest leader, addressing international delegates who would be in town for the conference.
Pro-democracy activists are also demanding that Mr Prayut, who is chairing Apec, step down as premier. They also want him to dissolve Parliament and call for national elections, which must be held by early 2023.
“We want to stop Apec because there is no participation from the people. It is only the capitalists and government who benefit from the BCG model,” Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, a leader from protest group Ratsadon, told The Straits Times after a rally on Wednesday night.
“We also want international leaders to know that this government does not represent the Thai people,” said the 27-year-old, who is out on bail for royal defamation charges related to a speech she gave in a 2021 protest.
Several other protests have also taken place across Bangkok and in other provinces over the week, and more gatherings are expected till the Apec meet ends on Saturday.
The authorities, including Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, have been trying to persuade demonstrators not to take to the streets during the conference, warning against tarnishing Thailand’s reputation.
This year’s Apec summit will be the first time in four years that member economies are meeting in person.
In 2009, the Asean summit held at Thailand’s seaside town of Pattaya ended in chaos, as protesters broke into the conference area.
Regional leaders were forced to flee, some via helicopters, and the summit was cancelled.
