DESPITE the rain more people are flocking to Sanam Luang ground this evening (Sept. 19) to join thousands of others already there as the demonstration by Thammasat Alliance, entitled “September 19 Reclaiming People’s Power,” grows bigger, Thai Rath newspaper reported.
The protesters are well prepared with raincoats and umbrellas and are also wearing face masks.
An anonymous member of the Free Youth group released bird’s eye view photos of the huge gathering to the press.
With the three-finger salute from the Hunger Games movie now becoming an expression of resistance to dictatorship, a toy has been created that gives a similar salute with this selling like hot cakes at the huge demonstration.
This harkens back to the wave of protests by People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) in 2014 when whistle-blowing turned into a key expression of their stance.
At 7 p.m. Mr. Chaiamorn Kaewwiboonpan , or Ammy, of The Bottom Blues band came on stage and asked the huge crowd to give the three-finger salute and sing the national anthem. He then invited well-known activist Mr. Jarupat Boonpattararaksa, or Phai Dao Din, to sing a song on the stage before continue to belt out more numbers for the relaxation of the protesters.
Meanwhile a parallel demonstration is taking place in northern Chiang Mai city with students trying to collect the names of 50,000 people in support of constitutional amendments, Amarin TV reported.
Dozens of people who previously joined action by the Red Shirts showed up for this protest and were not deterred by the rain.
From 5 p.m. onwards students took turns to go on stage to perform social satire skits.
Reporters observed that leaders of the previous demonstration against whom arrest warrants had been issued were not present for this one, but it is likely that they have come to Bangkok for the bigger demonstration.
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The bird’s eye view of tonight’s demonstration at Sanam Luang released by an anonymous member of Free Youth group and shared by Thai Rath.
